Beam measurement and reporting based on target path

Abstract

Radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target object by a wireless network is supported by a sensing node based on a sensing beam measurement configuration and / or a valid reporting configuration received from a network node. Based on the sensing beam measurement configuration, the sensing node measures sensing beams received from a transmitting entity, and selects one or more of the sensing beams to sense a target. The sensing node transmits a sensing beam measurement report to the network node that identifies the selected sensing beam and may provide measurement metrics, such as signal strength and absolute or relative delay of the selected beam along the target path. The sensing node may determine whether a valid reporting condition exists based on a change in the measurement channel state information, and may report the sensing measurement in the presence of the valid reporting condition.

Description

Background Art Technical Field :

[0001] The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to radio frequency sensing in wireless communication systems.

[0002] information :

[0003] Radar is a range-finding technology that can be used to determine the distance of an object relative to a given location. A radar system operates by sending and receiving electromagnetic pulses. Some of these pulses reflect off objects or surfaces along the transmission path, creating "echoes." The radar system can determine the distance to an object or surface based on the round-trip time between sending a pulse and receiving the echo of that pulse.

[0004] In a monostatic radar system, the antenna used to transmit the pulse (the "transmit antenna") is co-located with the antenna used to receive the echo (the "receive antenna"). For example, the transmit antenna and the receive antenna are typically located on the same device. This allows simple synchronization between the timing of the transmitted pulse and the timing of the received echo, since the same device (or system) clock can be used for both. In a multistatic radar system, the transmit antenna is located at a considerable distance from the receive antenna. The spatial diversity provided by a multistatic radar system provides high accuracy of the target location and allows different aspects of the target to be observed simultaneously.

[0005] Radio frequency (RF) sensing is a technology similar to (and may include) radar that can be used to determine one or more of the following: the presence, location, identity, or a combination thereof of an object. RF sensing can be used, for example, in wireless communication systems, such as cellular communication systems (5G and above). With large bandwidths being allocated, for example, to 5G and above, cellular communication system RF sensing can be considered a key feature in future cellular systems. Improvements in RF sensing are desired. Summary of the invention

[0006] A sensing node supports radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target object by a wireless network based on a sensing beam measurement configuration and / or a valid reporting configuration received from a network node. Based on the sensing beam measurement configuration, the sensing node measures sensing beams received from a transmitting entity and selects one or more of the sensing beams to sense a target. The sensing node transmits a sensing beam measurement report to the network node, the sensing beam measurement report identifying the selected sensing beam and providing measurement metrics such as signal strength and an absolute or relative delay of the selected beam along a target path. The sensing node may determine whether a valid reporting condition exists based on measuring changes in channel state information, and may report sensing measurements if a valid reporting condition exists.

[0007] In one specific implementation, a method performed by a sensing node in a wireless network for supporting radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network includes: receiving a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; measuring multiple sensing beams received from a sending entity; selecting one or more sensing beams from the multiple sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and transmitting a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identifier of each of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0008] In one specific implementation, a sensing node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network includes: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with an entity in the wireless network; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory and configured to: receive a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network via the wireless transceiver; measure a plurality of sensing beams received from a transmitting entity; select one or more sensing beams from the plurality of sensing beams for sensing a target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and transmit a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node via the wireless transceiver, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0009] In one specific implementation, a sensing node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network includes: a component for receiving a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; a component for measuring multiple sensing beams received from a sending entity; a component for selecting one or more sensing beams from the multiple sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and a component for transmitting a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0010] In one specific implementation, a non-transitory storage medium includes program code stored thereon, the program code being operable to configure at least one processor in a sensing node in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network, the program code including instructions for the following operations: receiving a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; measuring multiple sensing beams received from a sending entity; selecting one or more sensing beams from the multiple sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and transmitting a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identifier of each of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0011] In one specific implementation, a method performed by a network node in a wireless network for supporting a radio frequency (RF) sensing target in the wireless network includes: generating a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensing node in the wireless network; transmitting the sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement configuration enabling the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams; and receiving a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0012] In one specific implementation, a network node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing targets in the wireless network includes: an external interface configured to communicate with an entity in the wireless network; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory and configured to: generate a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensing node in the wireless network; transmit the sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node via the external interface, the sensing beam measurement configuration enabling the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams; and receive a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node via the external interface, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0013] In one specific implementation, a network node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing targets in the wireless network includes: a component for generating a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensing node in the wireless network; a component for transmitting the sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement configuration enabling the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams; and a component for receiving a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0014] In one specific implementation, a non-transitory storage medium includes program code stored thereon, the program code being operable to configure at least one processor in a network node in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing targets in the wireless network, the program code including instructions for: generating a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensing node in the wireless network; transmitting the sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement configuration enabling the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams; and receiving a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0015] Other objects and advantages associated with the various aspects disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the drawings and detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in describing various aspects of the present disclosure and are provided solely for illustration and not limitation of the various aspects.

[0017] Figure 1 An example wireless communication system in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure is illustrated.

[0018] Figure 2A and Figure 2B Examples of a monostatic sensing system and a multistatic sensing system for sensing a target object are respectively illustrated.

[0019] Figure 3 An example of a bistatic sensing system is shown.

[0020] Figure 4 A wireless communication system for macro sensing that can be used for a use case of low altitude airspace management is illustrated.

[0021] Figure 5 A wireless communication system with a communication user equipment (UE) selecting an optimal beam to be used for communication is illustrated.

[0022] Figure 6 A wireless communication system with a sensing UE that acts as a sensing node and selects an optimal beam to be used for sensing a target object is illustrated.

[0023] Figure 7 The message flow between a network node and a sensing node to support sensing beam selection using a sensing beam measurement configuration is illustrated.

[0024] Figure 8 The determination of measurement metrics and delays of sensing beams along possible target paths is illustrated.

[0025] Fig. 9A and Fig. 9B Examples of variations in signal strength of a sensing beam along various possible paths are illustrated.

[0026] Fig.10 The message flow between a network node and a sensing node to support sensing reporting based on a valid channel state information (CSI) reporting configuration is illustrated.

[0027] Fig.11 A schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a sensing node supporting sensing beam selection based on a sensing beam measurement configuration and / or reporting based on an effective CSI reporting configuration.

[0028] Fig.12 A schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a network node supporting sensing beam selection by a sensing node based on a sensing beam measurement configuration and / or reporting based on an effective CSI reporting configuration.

[0029] Fig.13 A flow chart of an exemplary process for supporting RF sensing by a sensing node in a wireless network is shown.

[0030] Fig.14 A flow chart of an exemplary process for supporting RF sensing of a network node in a wireless network is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] Various aspects of the present disclosure are provided in the following description and related drawings for various examples provided for illustrative purposes. Alternative aspects may be designed without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of the present disclosure will not be described in detail or will be omitted to avoid making the relevant details of the present disclosure difficult to understand.

[0032] The words "exemplary" and / or "example" are used herein to mean "serving as an example, instance, or illustration." Any aspect described herein as "exemplary" and / or "example" is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects. Likewise, the term "aspects of the disclosure" does not require that all aspects of the disclosure include the discussed feature, advantage, or mode of operation.

[0033] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of a variety of different techniques and technologies may be used to represent the information and signals described below. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips that may be mentioned throughout the following description may be represented by voltage, current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, which depends in part on the specific application, in part on the desired design, in part on the corresponding technology, and so on.

[0034] In addition, many aspects are described in terms of a sequence of actions to be performed by, for example, an element of a computing device. It will be appreciated that the various actions described herein may be performed by a specific circuit (e.g., an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC)), by program instructions executed by one or more processors, or by a combination of the two. Additionally, the sequence of actions described herein may be considered to be fully embodied in any form of non-transient computer-readable storage medium, in which a corresponding computer instruction set is stored, which, when executed, will cause or command the associated processor of the device to perform the functionality described herein. Therefore, various aspects of the present disclosure may be embodied in a variety of different forms, all of which have been contemplated to be within the scope of the subject matter claimed. In addition, for each of the various aspects described herein, the corresponding form of any such aspect may be described herein as, for example, "logic configured to perform the described actions".

[0035] As used herein, the terms "user equipment" (UE) and "base station" are not intended to be dedicated to or otherwise limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT), unless otherwise specified. In general, a UE may be any wireless communication device (e.g., a mobile phone, a router, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a tracking device, a wearable device (e.g., a smart watch, glasses, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) headsets, etc.), a vehicle (e.g., a car, a motorcycle, a bicycle, etc.), an Internet of Things (IoT) device, etc.) used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network. A UE may be mobile or may be stationary (e.g., at certain times) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as an "access terminal" or "AT", "client device", "wireless device", "subscriber device", "subscriber terminal", "subscriber station", "user terminal" or UT, "mobile terminal", "mobile station", "mobile device", or variants thereof. In general, a UE may communicate with a core network via a RAN, and through the core network, the UE may connect to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs. Of course, other mechanisms for connecting to the core network and / or the Internet are also possible for the UE, such as through a wired access network, a wireless local area network (WLAN) network (e.g., based on IEEE 802.11, etc.), etc. The UE may be implemented by any of a variety of types of devices, including but not limited to a printed circuit (PC) card, a compact flash device, an external or internal modem, a wireless or wired phone, a smart phone, a tablet device, a consumer asset tracking device, an asset tag, etc.

[0036] A base station may operate according to one of several RATs when in communication with a UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and is alternatively referred to as an access point (AP), a network node, a Node B, an evolved Node B (eNB), a new radio (NR) Node B (also referred to as a gNB), etc. In addition, in some systems, a base station may purely provide edge node signaling functions, while in other systems, a base station may provide additional control and / or network management functions. The communication link by which a UE may transmit a signal to a base station is referred to as an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., a reverse traffic channel, a reverse control channel, an access channel, etc.). The communication link by which a base station may transmit a signal to a UE is referred to as a downlink (DL) or forward link channel (e.g., a paging channel, a control channel, a broadcast channel, a forward traffic channel, etc.). The communication link by which a UE may send a signal to another UE is referred to as a side link (SL) or side link channel. As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to a UL / reverse, DL / forward, or SL traffic channel.

[0037] The term "base station" may refer to a single physical transmit receive point (TRP) (which may also be referred to as a transmit / receive point) or multiple physical TRPs that may or may not be co-located. For example, where the term "base station" refers to a single physical TRP, the physical TRP may be an antenna of the base station corresponding to the cell of the base station. Where the term "base station" refers to multiple co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be an antenna array of the base station (e.g., as in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or where the base station employs beamforming). Where the term "base station" refers to multiple non-co-located physical TRPs, the physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transmission medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, the non-co-located physical TRP may be a serving base station that receives measurement reports from the UE and a neighboring base station whose reference radio frequency (RF) signal the UE is measuring.

[0038] Radio frequency (RF) sensing is a technology similar to (and may include) radar that can be used to determine one or more of the following: the presence, location, identity, or a combination of objects in an environment. For example, RF sensing can be used to image an environment based on one or more of range, Doppler (which is a function of object velocity), and angle information.

[0039] Integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) is an example of using RF signals to sense the environment. ISAC attempts to enable the combination of sensing and communication systems to effectively utilize resources and even pursue mutual benefits, and is considered to be one of the key 5G+ / 6G features developed by many industries, including the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). For example, ISAC is cost-effective because it shares RF (and possibly baseband) hardware for sensing and communication. In addition, ISAC is spectrum efficient because it provides constant availability of spectrum for both communication and sensing functions. Use cases of ISAC-type technologies include, for example, macro sensing, such as weather monitoring, autonomous driving, dynamic mapping, low-altitude airspace (such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)) management, and intruder detection. Another use case is micro sensing, such as gesture recognition, life signal detection, and high-resolution imaging using THz. Another example use case includes sensing-assisted communication, for example, beam management based on environmental sensing.

[0040] For example, the old style beam measurements used for communication beams are not applicable to sensing operations. For example, in communications, the path taken by the communication signal is not important. Therefore, for beam selection in communication systems, the signal strength of the beam considers all the paths taken by the signal. In contrast, for sensing operations, the path taken by the sensing beam is critical to the validity of the sensing results.

[0041] Thus, as discussed herein, a sensing node, such as a UE or a base station, supports beam selection for sensing based on a sensing beam measurement configuration, which may be received from a network node, such as a base station or a sensing server. The sensing node measures the received sensing beams and selects a sensing beam for sensing a target based on the sensing beam measurement configuration. Based on the sensing beam measurement configuration, for example, the sensing node may identify one or more paths (line-of-sight (LOS) paths or non-LOS (NLOS) paths) for each of the received sensing beams, from which one or more target paths may be determined. The sensing node may then determine a measurement metric, such as a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), for the sensing beams using only the target paths. In addition, an absolute delay or a relative delay of the sensing beams along the target path is determined. One or more sensing beams may be selected for corresponding sensing and reported to the network node, for example, by identifying the selected sensing beams and optionally providing associated measurement metrics and delays. Therefore, the beam selection for sensing is not only based on the received signal power but also on the traversed signal path, which will improve the performance of the sensing system.

[0042] In addition, because the receiving sensing node is configured to report measurements of the transmitted sensing signal for each configuration, the receiving sensing node may transmit reports even if the environment has not changed significantly, thereby consuming over-the-air (OTA) resources and consuming power. An example of unnecessary resource and power consumption may be a roadside unit (RSU) monitoring an intersection where no traffic is present.

[0043] Thus, as discussed herein, a sensing node may be configured to transmit a sensing report based on a detected environmental change. For example, a sensing node may receive a valid reporting configuration. The sensing node may monitor the channel state information (CSI) in the received sensing beam, and based on the valid reporting configuration, may determine whether a valid reporting condition exists based on a change in the measured CSI between the sensing beams. For example, the change may be estimated by calculating a distance or dissimilarity measure between two CSIs. The change may be compared to a predetermined threshold to determine whether a valid reporting condition exists. Once a valid reporting condition is determined to exist, the sensing node may transmit a sensing report, and may continue to report until a timer expires and / or if a change in the distance or dissimilarity measure between the two CSIs becomes less than a second predetermined threshold.

[0044] Figure 1An example wireless communication system 100 is illustrated. The wireless communication system 100 (which may also be referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN) or a wireless network (e.g., a cellular network)) may include various base stations 102 (sometimes referred to herein as gNBs 102 or other types of NBs) and various UEs 104. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (high-power wireless base stations) and / or small cell base stations (low-power wireless base stations). In one aspect, the macrocell base stations may include eNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to an LTE network), or gNBs (where the wireless communication system 100 corresponds to a 5G network), or a combination of both, and the small cell base stations may include femtocells, picocells, microcells, etc.

[0045] The base stations 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with a core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a next generation core (NGC)) via a backhaul link 122 and to one or more sensing servers 172 via the core network 170. The base stations 102 may perform, among other functions, functions related to one or more of the following: delivering user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection establishment and release, load balancing, distribution of non-access stratum (NAS) messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracking, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 may communicate directly or indirectly with each other (e.g., via EPC / NGC) via a backhaul link 134, which may be wired or wireless.

[0046] Base station 102 may communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each of base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for a corresponding geographic coverage area 110. In one aspect, base station 102 in each coverage area 110 may support one or more cells. A "cell" is a logical communication entity for communicating with a base station (e.g., via a certain frequency resource referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, frequency band, etc.), and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCID), a virtual cell identifier (VCID)) for distinguishing cells operating via the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), or other protocol types) that may provide access to different types of UEs. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to a geographic coverage area (e.g., a sector) of a base station, as long as a carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographic coverage area 110.

[0047] Although the geographic coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (e.g., in a handover area), some areas of the geographic coverage areas 110 may substantially overlap with the larger geographic coverage area 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that substantially overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be referred to as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include a Home eNB (HeNB) that may provide services to a restricted group referred to as a Closed Subscriber Group (CSG).

[0048] The communication link 120 between the base station 102 and the UE 104 may include UL (also referred to as a reverse link) transmissions from the UE 104 to the base station 102 and / or downlink (DL) (also referred to as a forward link) transmissions from the base station 102 to the UE 104. The communication link 120 may use MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be over one or more carrier frequencies. The allocation of carriers may be asymmetric for DL ​​and UL (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL ​​than for UL).

[0049] The small cell base station 102' can operate in licensed and / or unlicensed spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed spectrum, the small cell base station 102' can adopt LTE or 5G technology and use the same 5GHz unlicensed spectrum as the spectrum used by the WLAN AP. The small cell base station 102' adopting LTE / 5G in the unlicensed spectrum can improve the coverage of the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum can be referred to as unlicensed LTE (LTE-U), license assisted access (LAA) or MulteFire.

[0050] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180, which can operate in mmW frequencies and / or near mmW frequencies to communicate with UE 182. Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30GHz to 300GHz, with a wavelength between 1 mm and 10 mm. The radio waves in this band may be referred to as millimeter waves. Near mmW can be extended downward to a frequency of 3GHz, with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends between 3GHz and 30GHz, which is also referred to as centimeter waves. Communications using mmW / near mmW radio frequency bands have high path loss and relatively short range. The mmW base station 180 and UE 182 can compensate for extremely high path loss and short range by using beamforming (sending and / or receiving) through the mmW communication link 184. In addition, it should be understood that in an alternative configuration, one or more base stations 102 may also use mmW or near mmW and beamforming for transmission. Therefore, it should be understood that the foregoing illustrations are merely examples and should not be construed as limiting the various aspects disclosed herein.

[0051] Transmit beamforming is a technique for focusing an RF signal in a specific direction. Traditionally, when a network node (e.g., a base station) broadcasts an RF signal, it broadcasts the signal in all directions (omnidirectionally). With transmit beamforming, the network node determines where a given target device (e.g., a UE) is located (relative to the transmitting network node) and projects a stronger downlink RF signal in that specific direction, thereby providing a faster (in terms of data rate) and stronger RF signal to the receiving device. In order to change the directionality of the RF signal when transmitting, the network node can control the phase and relative amplitude of the RF signal at each of the one or more transmitters that broadcast the RF signal. For example, a network node can use an array of antennas (referred to as a "phased array" or "antenna array") that produces RF beams that can be "steered" to point in different directions without actually moving the antenna. Specifically, the RF current from the transmitter is fed to each antenna in the correct phase relationship so that the radio waves from the separate antennas are added together to increase the radiation in the desired direction while canceling to suppress the radiation in the undesired direction.

[0052] In receive beamforming, the receiver uses receive beams to amplify RF signals detected on a given channel. For example, the receiver may increase the gain setting of the antenna array in a particular direction and / or adjust the phase setting of the antenna array in a particular direction to amplify the RF signal received from that direction (e.g., increase its gain level). Therefore, when a receiver is said to perform beamforming in a certain direction, it means that the beam gain in that direction is high relative to the beam gain along other directions, or the beam gain in that direction is the highest compared to the beam gain in that direction of all other receive beams available to the receiver. This results in a stronger received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), etc.) of the RF signal received from that direction.

[0053] In 5G, the spectrum in which wireless nodes (e.g., base stations 102 / 180, UEs 104 / 182) operate is divided into multiple frequency ranges: FR1 (from 450MHz to 6000MHz), FR2 (from 24250MHz to 52600MHz), FR3 (above 52600MHz), and FR4 (between FR1 and FR2). In a multi-carrier system (such as 5G), one of the carrier frequencies is called a "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "Pcell", and the remaining carrier frequencies are called "secondary carriers" or "secondary serving cells" or "Scells". In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is a carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) used by the UE 104 / 182 and the cell in which the UE 104 / 182 performs an initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates an RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels. A secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that can be configured once an RRC connection is established between the UE 104 and the anchor carrier, and that can be used to provide additional radio resources. The secondary carrier may contain only necessary signaling information and signals, for example, since the primary uplink carrier and the primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, those signaling information and signals that are UE-specific may not be present in the secondary carrier. This means that different UEs 104 / 182 in a cell may have different downlink primary carriers. The same is true for the uplink primary carrier. The network is able to change the primary carrier of any UE 104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether Pcell or Scell) corresponds to a carrier frequency / component carrier on which a base station communicates, the terms "cell", "serving cell", "component carrier", "carrier frequency", etc. are used interchangeably.

[0054] For example, still refer to Figure 1 , one of the frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 may be an anchor carrier (or "Pcell"), and the other frequencies used by macrocell base station 102 and / or mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("Scell"). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers enables UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission and / or reception rate. For example, two 20 MHz aggregated carriers in a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a doubling of the data rate (i.e., 40 MHz) compared to the data rate obtained with a single 20 MHz carrier.

[0055] The wireless communication system 100 may also include one or more UEs indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links. Figure 1 In the example of FIG. 1 , UE 164 has a D2D P2P link 192, where one of UEs 104 is connected to one of base stations 102. Link 192 can be used to indirectly obtain wireless connectivity or for D2D communication between UEs 104 and 164 without using base station 102. In some implementations, link 192 is a side link (SL) between UEs 104 and 164. In one example, D2D P2P link 192 can use any well-known D2D RAT (such as LTE direct (LTE-D), WiFi direct (WiFi-D), etc.) to support.

[0056] The wireless communication system 100 may include a UE 164 that may communicate with a macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or with an mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a Pcell and one or more Scells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more Scells for the UE 164.

[0057] like Figure 1As shown, UE 104' can sense an object 150 in the environment based on one or more RF sensing. For example, RF sensing can include monostatic sensing and multi-base sensing, such as dual-base sensing. In a monostatic sensing system, UE 104 both transmits RF signals and receives RF signals reflected from object 150. In a multi-base sensing system, UE 104' can receive RF signals reflected from object 150, which are transmitted from another device such as base station 102 or UE 164. An example of multi-base sensing is a dual-base system, in which one transmitting device transmits and one receiving device receives, but there can be any number of transmitting devices or receiving devices. Although UE 104' is in Figure 1 1 is illustrated as a receiving device, but if desired, base station 102 can be a receiving device in a monostatic sensing system or a multistatic sensing system, for example, where UE 104 (or UE 164) or another base station 102 transmits an RF signal reflected from an object.

[0058] The wireless communication system 100 may include a sensing server 172, which may be external to the core network 170 or internal to the core network 170. The sensing server 172 may be used to configure the wireless network to support RF sensing. For example, in some implementations, the sensing server 172 may generate a sensing beam measurement configuration and transmit the sensing beam measurement configuration to a sensing node to enable the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams for sensing a target object, as discussed herein. The sensing server 172 may receive a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement report including an identification of the selected sensing beam, and optionally a measurement metric and delay of the selected sensing beam along its target path. The sensing server 172 may also be configured to generate and transmit an effective CSI report configuration to enable the sensing node to transmit a sensing report only when there is a change in the environment.

[0059] During object sensing (including single-base sensing and dual-base / multi-base sensing) performed by a wireless network, the target object may have an irregular shape, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The irregular shape of the target object may cause the reflected signal to be unevenly distributed in all directions. In order to increase the probability of receiving the reflected sensing signal, some UEs (legacy UEs or sensing-specific UEs) can be used to receive the reflected signal, which is called UE-assisted sensing. UEs are sometimes referred to as "sensing UEs" or "sensing nodes." Using UEs as sensing UEs can be advantageous because the number of base stations in a cellular network is much smaller than the number of UEs. Although various embodiments related to UAV target objects are described herein, it should be understood that, unless otherwise stated, the present disclosure is not limited to UAVs, and the target object for sensing may be other types of objects, such as aircraft, vehicles, ships, people, animals, or any other desired objects.

[0060] Figure 2A and Figure 2B Examples of a monostatic sensing system 200 and a multistatic sensing system 220 for sensing a target object 201 illustrated as a UAV are respectively illustrated.

[0061] Figure 2A A single-base sensing system 200 is illustrated, wherein a base station 202 (e.g., which may be Figure 1 The base station 102 in the system both sends and receives sensing signals. In a single-base sensing system, sending and receiving pairing or grouping is not required, but self-interference mitigation may be necessary.

[0062] like Figure 2A As shown, the base station 202 includes a transmitting (Tx) antenna panel 203 and a receiving (Rx) antenna panel 205. The Tx antenna panel 203 transmits a sensing signal 208 having a known departure angle (AoD) (azimuth and elevation), for example, via beamforming. The sensing signal 208 is incident on the target object 201, and at least a portion of the sensing signal 208 is reflected as a reflected sensing signal 209, which is received by the Rx antenna panel 205. The Rx antenna panel 205 can measure the angle of arrival (AoA) (azimuth and elevation), for example, via beamforming, and can also measure flight time and phase information, which can be used to determine angle information, ranging information, and Doppler information about the target object 201.

[0063] Figure 2B A multi-base / bi-base sensing system 220 is illustrated, wherein a Tx base station 222 (e.g., which may be Figure 1The base station 102 in the embodiment of the present invention transmits a sensing signal, and one node (for a bistatic sensing system) (such as one of the Rx base station 224 or the sensing UE 226) or a plurality of other nodes (for a multistatic sensing system) (such as both the Rx base station 224 and the sensing UE 226) receive the sensing signal reflected from the target object 201. In a bistatic / multistatic sensing system, self-interference mitigation is not required, but transmission and reception pairing or grouping is required.

[0064] like Figure 2B As shown, the Tx base station 222 includes a Tx antenna panel 223, and the Rx base station 224 includes an Rx antenna panel 225. The sensing UE 226 may include an antenna array (not shown). It should be understood that the Tx base station 222 may also include an Rx antenna panel, and the Rx base station 224 may include a Tx antenna panel, which are not used in the present sensing operation. The Tx antenna panel 223 transmits a sensing signal 228 with a known AoD (azimuth and elevation), for example, via beamforming. The sensing signal 228 is incident on the target object 201 and is reflected as reflected sensing signals 229 and 231, which are received by the Rx antenna panel 225 and the sensing UE 226, respectively. The Rx base station 224 and the sensing UE 226 may measure the AoA (azimuth and elevation), for example, via beamforming, and may also measure flight time and phase information, using which the flight time and phase information may determine angle information, ranging information, and Doppler information about the target object 201.

[0065] Figure 3 An example bistatic sensing system 300 is shown. The bistatic sensing system 300 includes an RF transmitter (RTX) 310 and an RF receiver (RRX) 320. The RF transmitter 310 and the RF receiver 320 are spatially separated by a baseline (L). In some implementations, the RF transmitter 310 may be an example of a base station 102 (or UE 104), and the RF receiver 320 may be an example of a base station 102 (or UE 104). Figure 1 An example of one of the different base stations 102 (or UE 104).

[0066] RF transmitter 310 is configured to send RF pulses 312 in multiple directions. Each of these pulses 312 may be a beamformed RF signal having a particular width and directionality. An object or surface along the path of any of these pulses 312 may cause pulse 312 to reflect or scatter. The reflected pulse may be referred to as an "echo" of the pulse from which it originated. Figure 3 In the example of FIG. 3 , target object 301 is located along the path of one of RF pulses 312. RF pulse 312(i) incident on target object 301 is reflected as echo 322. Figure 3As shown, the echo 322 is reflected in the direction of the RF receiver 320. The RF receiver 320 may determine ranging information, Doppler information, or angle information about the target object 301 based on the reception of the echo 322. For example, ranging information about the target object 301 may be determined, including but not limited to the distance, direction, or speed of the target object 301.

[0067] In some implementations, the RF receiver 320 can determine the distance L between the RF transmitter 310 and the RF receiver 320 based at least in part on the baseline distance L, the angle of arrival (θ R ) and the flight time (τ) from the incident pulse 312 (i) sent by the RF transmitter 310 to the echo 322 received by the RF receiver 320 to determine the distance (R) of the target object 301 relative to the RF receiver 320. R ). More specifically, the distance R can be calculated according to Formula 1: R .

[0068]

[0069] Where R T +R R represents the combined distance from the target object 301 to each of the RF transmitter 310 and the RF receiver 320. Figure 3 As shown, R T +R R A distance range 302 (in an elliptical shape) around the RF transmitter 310 and the RF receiver 320 where the target object 301 may be located is defined. More specifically, it can be calculated according to Formula 3 as a function of the baseline (L), the flight time of the reflected pulse (τ), and the propagation speed of the RF pulse (c p ) to calculate R T +R R .

[0070] R T +R R =c p τ+L (2)

[0071] Refer to Formula 1 and Formula 3, baseline L and propagation speed c p represents a fixed or preconfigured value inherent to the sensing system 300. The arrival angle θ may be determined based on a time difference of arrival (TDOA) of the echo 322 between different receiving antennas of the RF receiver 320 in the antenna array or based on an antenna sector (corresponding to a preset beam of a phased array antenna) used by the RF receiver 320 to receive the echo 322. RHowever, in order to calculate the flight time τ, the RF receiver 320 must have knowledge of the time at which the incident pulse 312 (i) was transmitted at the receiver's location. More specifically, the transmission time (T) of the incident pulse can be varied according to Equation 3. 脉冲 ) and the echo receiving time (T 回波 ) to calculate the flight time τ.

[0072] τ=T 回波 -T 脉冲 (3)

[0073] For the fixed RF transmitter 310 and the fixed RF receiver 320, the target bistatic Doppler frequency is given by:

[0074]

[0075] Where v is the velocity of the target object 301, β is the departure angle θ T and the arrival angle θ R The difference between , and δ is the angle between the velocity vector v and the angle β.

[0076] Because the RF transmitter 310 and the RF receiver 320 are implemented in (or correspond to) separate wireless communication devices, the RF transmitter 310 may need to communicate the transmission timing T of the incident pulse to the RF receiver 320. 脉冲 However, because the RF transmitter 310 transmits pulses 312 in multiple directions, the RF transmitter 310 may not know which of the pulses 312 is incident on the target object 301. Therefore, the RF transmitter 310 may need to communicate the timing of each of the pulses 312 to the RF receiver 320, and the RF receiver 320 may need to determine which of the pulses 312 caused the echo 322.

[0077] In some implementations, the RF transmitter 310 may also determine ranging information about the target object 301. For example, the RF transmitter 310 may determine a relative distance R between itself and the target object 301. T For example, in some aspects, RF receiver 320 may provide feedback to RF transmitter 310 regarding echo 322. The feedback may include the timing T of the echo. 回波 , the timing of the transmitted pulse T 脉冲 , flight time τ, arrival angle θ R , calculated distance R R or any combination thereof. RF transmitter 310 may then determine the angle of departure θ of incident pulse 312 (i) based at least in part on the angle of departure θ of incident pulse 312 (i). T To calculate the distance R of the target object 301 TFor example, the RF transmitter 310 can T Substituting the arrival angle θ into Equation 1 R To calculate the distance R T RF transmitter 310 may determine departure angle θ based on the antenna sector (corresponding to a particular beam of the phased array antenna) used by RF transmitter 310 to transmit incident pulse 312(i). T .

[0078] The monostatic sensing system operates similarly to the bistatic sensing system 300, but the RF transmitter 310 and the RF receiver 320 are the same entity, thereby eliminating the need for Tx / Rx pairing groups, but adding the need for self-interference mitigation.

[0079] A wireless communication system (such as a Figure 1 The wireless communication system 100 shown has many use cases, including macro sensing, micro sensing, and beam management. For example, macro sensing can be used for weather monitoring, autonomous driving, dynamic mapping, low altitude airspace (e.g., UAV) management, and intruder detection. Micro sensing can be used for gesture recognition, vital sign detection, high resolution imaging using THz. As an example, beam management can use environmental sensing to sense auxiliary communication.

[0080] For example, Figure 4 A wireless communication system 400 is illustrated that can be used for a macro sensing use case for low altitude airspace management. The wireless communication system 400 includes a plurality of base stations 402 and associated cells 404 interfacing with a core network 470 and one or more sensing / positioning servers 472 that can communicate with Figure 1 The core network and sensor servers 172 shown are identical. Figure 4 A mobile target object 401 (UAV) is illustrated traveling along a path 410 through a cell 404. As shown, multistatic sensing may be used to monitor the target object 401, as shown by base station 402a sending a sensing signal and base stations 402b and 402c receiving reflected sensing signals (echoes). It should be appreciated that single-base sensing by multiple base stations 402 may also be used. In addition, the reflected sensing signals (echoes) may be received by other receiving entities, such as one or more sensing UEs ( Figure 4 Not shown)) reception.

[0081] Using wireless communication system 400 to sense target objects such as target object 401 can be beneficial because existing physical sites can be used, thereby reducing deployment costs, and shared RF / baseband hardware in sensing nodes (e.g., base stations and / or sensing UEs) reduces hardware costs. In addition, the use of wireless communication system 400 deployed over a large area can be advantageous in applications such as low-altitude airspace management, such as Figure 4 Furthermore, networking in 5G and future 6G systems can be advantageously used for collaborative sensing and target tracking.

[0082] In current NR systems, the gNB may configure the UE to measure physical layer metrics and then report the measurements, including Layer 1 (physical layer) (L1)-RSRP, L1-SINR, etc. For example, the gNB may send a beam set in a channel state information (CSI) reference signal (RS) (CSI-RS) resource set. The UE may select the beam with the largest RSRP or SINR and then report the value of RSRP or SINR and the associated CRI. The gNB may determine the optimal communication beam based on the report received from the UE. However, the beam sent by the gNB in ​​this process is the communication beam.

[0083] The communication beam measurement process cannot be used directly for sensing operations without some enhancements to enable determination of the optimal beam for sensing. For example, for communication, the transmitter entity and the receiver entity do not care about the path taken by the communication signal. In other words, either line-of-sight (LOS) or non-LOS communication signals can be used for communication.

[0084] For example, Figure 5 A communication system 500 is illustrated in which a base station 502 transmits signals in multiple beams (beam 1 and beam 2). These beams may be, for example, CRI-RS resource sets. A communication UE 504 receives both LOS signals and non-LOS (NLOS) signals for beam 1 and beam 2 (e.g., reflected from objects 506 and 508). When the communication UE 504 selects the optimal beam to be used for communication, it considers all experienced paths (LOS and NLOS) for each beam. The RSRP of each beam involves the received power from all experienced paths. Therefore, as shown, the communication UE 504 uses both the LOS signal and the NLOS signal to measure the total strength of beam 1, such as RSRP 1. Similarly, the communication UE 504 uses both the LOS signal and the NLOS signal to measure the total strength of beam 2, such as RSRP 2.

[0085] On the other hand, for sensing, the path that the signal travels is a key condition for the validity of the sensing results. For example, for sensing, non-LOS signals reflected from the target object should be used, but including LOS signals and / or NLOS signals that are not from the target object in the measurement may produce invalid results. Therefore, beam selection for sensing should be based not only on the received signal power, but also on the signal path traveled.

[0086] For example, Figure 6 A sensing system 600 is illustrated in which a network node 602 (e.g., a gNB) is transmitting multiple sensing signal resources (beam 1 and beam 2). Beam 1 is incident on and reflected by a target object 601, thereby generating an NLOS 1 signal along the target path to a sensing node 604. As shown, the sensing node 604 also receives a LOS signal from beam 1 (LOS 1) and a LOS signal from beam 2 (LOS 2). The sensing node 604 Figure 6 In the example, the sensing UE is illustrated as a sensing UE, but in some specific implementations, it can be another base station, such as a gNB. In addition, the network node 602 is illustrated as a sending sensing entity, such as a base station, but the network node 602 can be another UE. In addition, the network node 602 can be or include a sensing server (e.g., Figure 1 Sensor server 172 shown).

[0087] The signal strength measured by sensing node 604 for beam 2 (based on LOS 2) may be greater than the signal strength measured along the target path for beam 1 (NLOS 1). Furthermore, if both LOS 1 and NLOS 1 are used to measure the total signal strength of beam 1, it will be an inaccurate measurement for sensing target object 601.

[0088] Thus, in one specific implementation, a network node 602, such as a base station 102 or a sensing server 172, sends a sensing beam measurement configuration to a sensing node (e.g., sensing node 604) for measuring sensing beams and selecting one or more sensing beams for sensing a target object 601. The sensing node 604 may then transmit a measurement report to the network node 602 (or to a different network node) that identifies each of the one or more selected sensing beams for sensing a target object, for example, using the selected one or more sensing beams.

[0089] Figure 7 Illustrated in Figure 6 The message flow 700 between the network node 602 and the sensing node 604 to support sensing beam selection using a sensing beam measurement configuration is shown. The network node 602 may be a base station, such as Figure 1The base station 102 shown may alternatively be a sensor server such as Figure 1 The sensor server 172 is shown. For example, the sensor node 604 can be a UE (such as Figure 1 UE 104 shown) or a base station (such as Figure 1 Base station 102 shown). Although Figure 7 Not illustrated in the diagram, but message flow 700 may include additional nodes. For example, if network node 602 is a sensing server, there may be additional network nodes in the form of base stations to communicate with sensing node 604 and send beams for sensing. Figure 7 The illustrated procedure may be used to support RF sensing, such as monostatic or bistatic radar sensing of target object 601, for example, as described in reference Figure 6 It should be understood that Figure 7 Messages are illustrated that may be sent to support RF sensing but may not include all messages or actions performed during RF sensing and additionally include messages or actions that are provided for completeness but may not be necessary for RF sensing.

[0090] In phase 1, the network node 602 provides a sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node 604. The sensing beam measurement configuration may include one or more parameters that may be used to facilitate receiving and measuring sensing beams, selecting sensing beams, and reporting selected sensing beams.

[0091] The sensing beam measurement configuration may include one or more parameters that can be used to facilitate receiving and measuring sensing beams, selecting sensing beams, and reporting selected sensing beams. For example, the sensing beam measurement configuration provided by the network node 602 may include associated resources for sensing signals, for example, a set of sensing signal resources, where each sensing signal resource corresponds to a sensing beam. The sensing beam measurement configuration may include measurement metrics for measuring sensing signals, such as sensing RSRP (or NLOS-RSRP), sensing SINR (or NLOS-SINR). The sensing beam measurement configuration may include criteria for target path determination, such as a maximum power NLOS path or a Doppler frequency characteristic (i.e., a Doppler characteristic). For example, the Doppler frequency characteristic may include a micro-Doppler profile. The sensing beam measurement configuration may (optionally) include a minimum absolute delay and / or a minimum relative delay compared to a LOS path. The sensing beam measurement configuration may include the number of target paths to be included in the sensing beam measurement report. The sensing beam measurement configuration may include a reporting format for each selected sensing beam, such as: a sensing signal resource identifier (ID), at least one of sensing RSRP or sensing SINR, an absolute delay relative to the transmit time of the sensing beam, a relative delay relative to the LOS path, information about the error of the result (e.g., uncertainty level), or any combination thereof.

[0092] The sensing node 604 may perform sensing beam measurement and reporting based on the received sensing beam measurement configuration.

[0093] In phase 2, the network node 602 transmits a sensing signal using multiple resources (beams) that can be received by the sensing node 604. Figure 7 Each of the sensing signal resources indicated in the sensing beam measurement configuration received in stage 1 (eg, Figure 6 In beam 1 and beam 2), the sensing node 604 can Figure 7 The sensing signals are received at stage 2 of the present invention. One or more of the sensing signals may be received along different beam paths. For example, the beam may be directly received by the sensing node 604, for example, along a line-of-sight (LOS) path, and the beam may be reflected by the target object 601 (and other objects), and the sensing node 604 may receive the reflected beam along a non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path.

[0094] In stage 3, the sensing node 604 selects one or more sensing beams for sensing the target object based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration. The selection of sensing beams for sensing the target object may include measuring one or more metrics of the sensing beams, such as signal strength information.

[0095] In stage 4, the sensing node 604 transmits a sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each of the one or more selected sensing beams to the network node 602. The report may include additional information such as metrics (e.g., signal strength measurements) and delays or other information related to receiving the selected sensing beams.

[0096] For example, in one possible example, in stage 2, the sensing node 604 may detect both the LOS signal and the NLOS signal from the same beam (beam 1) (e.g., LOS 1 and NLOS 1 along the target path), and the NLOS signal has a matching Doppler frequency characteristic, for example, the matching Doppler frequency characteristic may include, for example, the micro-Doppler profile determined in stage 3. The NLOS 1 signal should be the optimal beam for sensing. The sensing node 604 may provide a report to the network node 602 (or other network nodes) in stage 4, the report including information about both the LOS signal and the NLOS signal and indicating the relative delay between them.

[0097] In another possible example, in stage 2, the sensing node 604 may detect only a NLOS signal (e.g., NLOS 1) as a sensing beam (beam 1) (as provided in the sensing beam measurement configuration), which NLOS signal may have a matching Doppler frequency characteristic, for example, which may include a micro-Doppler profile, but the sensing node 604 does not receive, for example, a LOS signal (e.g., LOS 1) of the beam determined in stage 3. In one scenario, the sensing node 604 may detect a LOS signal (e.g., LOS 2) from another beam (e.g., beam 2). The identities of the two beams (i.e., beam 1 and beam 2) and their relative delays may be reported by the sensing node 604 to the network node 602 (or other network nodes) in stage 4. In another scenario, in stage 3, the sensing node 604 may calculate the relative delay of the NLOS signal relative to a known reference beam. The identities of both the NLOS signal and the reference beam, as well as the relative delay of the NLOS signal with respect to the reference beam, may be reported by the sensing node 604 to the network node 602 (or other network nodes) in stage 4 .

[0098] In some implementations, to determine whether the received signal is a LOS signal or a NLOS signal, a polarization-based method may be used. For example, the network node 602 may send a signal with certain polarization characteristics (e.g., circular polarization) that are only retained in the LOS path in stage 2. The polarization characteristics may be provided to the sensing node 604 in the sensing beam measurement configuration in stage 1. If the sensing node 604 receives only one signal of the beam, then in stage 3, the sensing node 604 may determine whether the signal is a LOS signal or a NLOS signal based on whether a change in the polarization state in the signal has occurred.

[0099] The report performed by the sensing node 604 in stage 4 may be a measurement report or a sensing result. For example, as described above, the sensing node 604 may perform a delay measurement and report the delay result. Then, the network node 602 (or other network nodes) may determine the sensing result based on the report. Alternatively, if sufficient information is given, the sensing node 604 may also perform a sensing calculation, which is referred to as receiver-based sensing. For receiver-based sensing calculation, the sensing node 604 may receive the necessary information for sensing calculation from the network node 602 (or other network nodes). For example, the sensing node 604 may receive transmission timing information for multiple beams so that the sensing node can derive the relative delay between any two beams. The sensing node 604 may calculate the timing of the NLOS path and its associated beam with Doppler frequency feature matching, and identify a reference beam (the same beam or a different beam), calculate the relative delay between the NLOS path and the LOS path from the reference beam, and if the sensing beam and the reference beam are different, subtract the timing difference between the sensing beam and the reference beam.

[0100] In phase 3, the sensing node 604 may determine the target path based on the sensing beam measurement configuration and other information. For example, the sensing node 604 may be generally static, for example, if the sensing node 604 is a base station. Even if the sensing node 604 is a sensing UE, the UE used for sensing may also be static or move relatively slowly. Therefore, during the sensing deployment, the delay of the background signal (i.e., there is no target object in the target area) between the network node 602 and the sensing node 604 may be measured in advance. These background signals include the LOS path (with minimum delay). The sensing node 604 may use the background signal measurement to determine the possible target path, because a signal with a delay greater than the LOS signal may be associated with the target path.

[0101] If the network node 602 (or other network node) configures and provides auxiliary information to the sensing node 604, the sensing node 604 may further reduce the candidate target path list. For example, the network node 602 (or other network node) may determine the minimum delay of the target path (reflection path) based on the known distance from the target object 601. For example, the network node 602 (or other network node) may know the height of the target object 601, for example, if the target object is a UAV, so the minimum delay of the target path (reflection path) may be calculated based on the height of the target object 601 and provided to the sensing node 604. For the target path determination, the sensing node 604 may only consider paths whose delays are greater than the minimum delay.

[0102] In another example, the network node 602 (or other network node) may know the blade rotation speed of the target object 601, for example, if the target object is a UAV. Therefore, the range of the Doppler frequency spread (sometimes referred to as the micro-Doppler profile) of the target object 601 (UAV) may be calculated and indicated to the sensing node 604, for example, in stage 1. Micro-Doppler refers to the Doppler frequency caused by the moving components on the target object 601 (such as the rotation of the blades of the UAV). For the target path determination in stage 3, the sensing node 604 may only consider paths with Doppler frequency characteristics that match the Doppler frequency characteristics provided in stage 1, which may include a micro-Doppler profile.

[0103] Based on the configured number of target paths included in the sensing beam measurement report provided in stage 1, the sensing node 604 may select the number of paths having the maximum sensing signal strength (eg, RSRP or SINR) from the candidate set.

[0104] In phase 3, the sensing node 604 may determine a measurement metric (eg, sensed RSRP and / or SINR) and an absolute or relative delay for each possible target path.

[0105] For example, Figure 8 The determination of measurement metrics and delays of sensing beams along possible target paths is illustrated. Figure 8 An example of signals (illustrated as vertical arrows) received by a sensing node 604 over time T is shown, from which measurement metrics (eg, sensed RSRP and sensed SINR) and absolute or relative delays may be determined. Figure 8 The length of the vertical arrow in the figure indicates the signal strength of the received signal. Figure 6The reception of beam 2 (shown in FIG. 1 ) is illustrated by signals 802, 804, and 806, where signal 802 corresponds to a LOS path, signal 804 corresponds to a NLOS along the target path, and signal 806 corresponds to another NLOS path resulting from a reflection from another object (such as a bird). Figure 6 The reception of the NLOS signal 804 is illustrated by the signal 803 corresponding to the LOS path. It should be understood that there may be more beams received by the sensing node 604 and more NLOS signals per beam.

[0106] The LOS paths received as signals 802 and 803 may be identified by the sensing node 602 as fixed background signals, for example, when measured in a network deployment when the target object is not present. The target path may be identified by the sensing node 604 from the NLOS paths received as signals 804 and 806, for example, based on a micro-Doppler profile, or based on the minimum delay of the target path (reflected path) at the height of the target object 601. For example, the micro-Doppler profile of the UAV target object 601 will be significantly different from the micro-Doppler profile of the bird, and therefore, the signal 806 from the bird may be eliminated from the candidate set and the target path may be identified as the signal 804. In addition, if the minimum delay of the target path based on the height of the target object 601 is provided to the sensing node 604, the signal 806 from the bird may be eliminated from the candidate set and the target path may be identified as the signal 804.

[0107] Once the target path is identified, the sensing node 604 may determine a measurement metric, such as signal strength, of the signal associated with the target path in stage 3. For example, sensing RSRP may be measured using only paths that have characteristics of the target object (e.g., micro-Doppler profile or minimum delay value). In contrast, conventional (legacy) RSRP for a communication beam would measure all paths of the beam (e.g., including Figure 8 The RSRP of signals 802 and 804).

[0108] The sensing RSRP may be determined based on the received power of the reflection path of the target object and the number of sensing signal resource elements (REs) as follows.

[0109]

[0110] If desired, other metrics may be measured, such as sensed SINR.Sensed SINR (dB) may be determined as follows.

[0111] Sensing SINR (dB) = Sensing RSRP (dB) - Interference plus noise (dB) Formula 2

[0112] In the sensing beam measurement report transmitted by the sensing node 604 to the network node 602 (or other network nodes) in stage 4, the sensing node 604 may report a beam ID associated with a measurement metric value (e.g., maximum sensing RSRP), and the network node 602 (or other network nodes) may determine the optimal sensing beam or perform beam refinement (sending a narrower beam within the range of the reported beam).

[0113] In addition, the sensing node 604 can measure the delay of the signal associated with the target path. For example, the delay can be based on the transmission time of the beam (e.g., Figure 8 The absolute delay τ is measured from the reception time of the signal 802 associated with the LOS path (as illustrated by time 0 in FIG. 1 ) to the reception time of the signal 804 associated with the target path. The relative delay Δτ may be measured based on the reception time of the signal 802 associated with the LOS path and the reception time of the signal 804 associated with the target path. The reflection path distance D may be determined based on the propagation speed of the signal (e.g., the speed of light c) and the relative delay Δτ value or the absolute delay τ as follows.

[0114] D = Δτ × c + LOS path distance formula 3

[0115] D=t×c Formula 4

[0116] In the sensing beam measurement report transmitted by the sensing node 604 to the network node 602 (or other network node) in stage 4, in addition to the beam ID and the measurement metric value, the sensing node 604 may also report the delay, for example, the absolute delay or relative delay of the signal 804 associated with the target path. Based on the delay value, the network node 602 (or other network node) may calculate the reflection path distance, based on which an elliptical surface of possible target object 601 (UAV) locations may be generated. For example, Figure 6 An ellipse 610 surface having a transmitting entity (i.e., network node 602) and a receiving entity (i.e., sensing node 604) as foci is illustrated, wherein the sum of the distances between any point on the ellipse 610 and the two foci is equal to the calculated reflection path distance. By generating multiple ellipse surfaces, for example using a multistatic sensing system and / or multiple bistatic sensing systems, the location of the target object 601 can be determined.

[0117] The selection of the sensing beam by the sensing node 604 in phase 3 may be based on the larger measurement metric, such as sensed RSRP or sensed SINR, based only on the signal associated with the target path.

[0118] Fig. 9A An example of a signal received by the sensing node 604 over time T is illustrated (illustrated as a vertical arrow). Fig. 9AReception of beam 1 is illustrated as signal 902 (along the LOS path) and signal 904 (along the NLOS path corresponding to the target path). Similarly, beam 2 is received as signal 906 (along the LOS path) and signal 908 (along the NLOS path corresponding to the target path). The third beam (beam 3) is illustrated as being received along the LOS path as signal 910. The sensed RSRP for beam 1 is based on the sensed RSRP of only signal 904, while the legacy RSRP for communication would include all beam paths, including signals 902 and 904. Similarly, the sensed RSRP for beam 2 is based on the sensed RSRP of only signal 908, while the legacy RSRP for communication would include all beam paths, including signals 906 and 908. Therefore, Fig. 9A A relatively large sensing RSRP and a relatively small legacy RSRP are illustrated. In this example, due to the larger sensing RSRP of signal 904, beam 1 may be selected as the sensing beam.

[0119] Fig. 9B Similar to Fig. 9B , and illustrates another example of a signal received by the sensing node 604 over time T (illustrated as a vertical arrow). Fig. 9B The reception of beam 1 is illustrated as signal 912 (along the LOS path) and signal 914 (along the NLOS path corresponding to the target path). Similarly, beam 2 is received as signal 916 (along the LOS path) and signal 918 (along the NLOS path corresponding to the target path). The third beam (beam 3) is illustrated as being received along the LOS path as signal 920. The sensed RSRP for beam 1 is based on the sensed RSRP of only signal 914, while the legacy RSRP for communication will include all beam paths, including signals 912 and 914. Similarly, the sensed RSRP for beam 2 is based on the sensed RSRP of only signal 918, while the legacy RSRP for communication will include all beam paths, including signals 916 and 918. Therefore, Fig. 9B A relatively small sensing RSRP and a relatively large legacy RSRP are illustrated. In this example, beam 1 may be selected as the sensing beam due to the larger sensing RSRP of signal 914.

[0120] The sensing node 604 reports measurements of the transmitted sensing signals for each configuration. However, in some instances, the environment may not have changed significantly, and therefore, the sensing node 604 may not need to transmit the sensing measurements to the network node 602. By preventing the reporting of sensing measurements when there is no change, over-the-air (OTA) sensing resource utilization is reduced and power consumption is improved. For example, in the case of a sensing node such as a roadside unit (RSU) monitoring an intersection, it may be necessary to report measurements based only on detected changes in the environment.

[0121] Thus, in some implementations, for sensing purposes, the sensing node 604 may be configured by the network node to report only channel state information (CSI) changes. For example, the CSI may be estimated using a signal such as a sensing reference signal that may be dedicated to the configuration of the sensing node; or a CSI-RS resource dedicated to the sensing node; or other potential common reference signals, such as a synchronization signal block (SSB). The CSI may be represented by different metrics, such as a channel quality indicator (CQI), reference signal received power (RSRP), or a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), or a specifically defined metric, such as using an autoencoder to represent a meaningful feature of the channel.

[0122] If the CSI estimate changes by a predetermined threshold from the most recent CSI estimate, the sensing node 604 may report the observation. For example, the change may be estimated by calculating a distance or dissimilarity metric between two CSIs. The distance or dissimilarity metric may be configured by the network and signaled to the sensing node 604. Some dissimilarity metrics may be specified in the standard and stored in the sensing node, and the network may specify the corresponding parameters of the measurement, or simply specify the index of the metric to be used by the sensing node 604. For example, different metrics may be used for different purposes. Predetermined thresholds for comparing CSIs may also be signaled to the sensing node 604. Default thresholds may be specified by the standard and stored in the sensing node 604, and the network may dynamically adjust these thresholds.

[0123] Fig.10 Illustrated Figure 6 The message flow between the network node 602 and the sensing node 604 is shown to support sensing based on effective channel state information (CSI) reporting configuration. The network (e.g., the network node 602) configures the sensing node 604 with CSI-based event reporting based on the distance between the observed CSI samples. Figure 7 As discussed, the network node 602 may be a base station, such as Figure 1 The base station 102 shown may alternatively be a sensor server such as Figure 1 The sensor server 172 is shown. For example, the sensor node 604 can be a UE (such as Figure 1 UE 104 shown) or a base station (such as Figure 1 Base station 102 shown). Although Fig.10 Not illustrated in the example, but message flow 1000 may include additional nodes. For example, if network node 602 is a sensing server, there may be additional network nodes in the form of base stations to communicate with sensing node 604 and send beams for sensing. Fig.10 The illustrated procedure may be used to support RF sensing, such as monostatic or bistatic radar sensing of target object 601, for example, as described in reference Figure 6 It should be understood that Fig.10 Messages are illustrated that may be sent to support RF sensing but may not include all messages or actions performed during RF sensing and additionally include messages or actions that are provided for completeness but may not be necessary for RF sensing.

[0124] In phase 1, the network node 602 provides a receive (Rx) sensing configuration to the sensor node 604. For example, the Rx sensing configuration may be Figure 6 The sensing beam measurement configuration in phase 1 of the present invention may be provided together, or may be provided in a separate message. For example, the configuration may include a dissimilarity or distance CSI metric to be used by the sensing node 604. The distance may be selected from a set of preconfigured metrics, for example, defined in a standard and stored in the sensing node 604, or determined by a set of parameters signaled to the sensing node 604 from the network node 602. For example, the distance between two CSIs may be obtained by measuring the Euclidean distance between their corresponding representations, each of which is obtained by an autoencoder. The autoencoder takes the CSI (e.g., a channel frequency response (CFR) or a channel impulse response (CIR)) as input and provides a CSI representation. The autoencoder parameters may be signaled by the network node 602. In another example, other classical metrics such as CQI, RSRP, or PMI may be used.

[0125] In addition, the configuration provided in stage 1 may also include thresholds to be used for comparing CSI. The thresholds will depend on a specific metric signaled by the network node 602. For example, if the Euclidean distance between two corresponding CSI representations exceeds X, a sensing report is triggered. The value X may be signaled by the network node 602. For example, the difference in CQI values ​​may be compared to a reference threshold X. In another example, the difference in RSRP values ​​may be compared to a reference threshold X. Default thresholds may be specified, for example, in a standard and stored in the sensing node 604, and the network node 602 may dynamically adjust these thresholds. If a distance measurement is applied to each beam, the threshold may be per beam.

[0126] The configuration provided in stage 1 may also include resources for CSI measurement. The resources may be specific to the sensing node 604, such as UE-specific CSI-RS or UE-specific sensing reference signals, on-demand PRS, etc. The resources may be common reference signals, such as SSB, PRS, etc. In addition, the configuration may include a filtering configuration to be used by the sensing node 604 and the number of measurement samples to be calculated for each instance. For example, the configuration may indicate that M PRS samples will be used for CSI estimation.

[0127] The configuration provided in phase 1 may also include the beams to be used for sensing. For example, if beam scanning is performed on a reference signal (RS), the network node 602 may configure the sensing node 604 to use a single metric that is a function of all the beams, for example. In another example, the network node 602 may configure the sensing node 604 to use per-beam distance evaluation, where the sensing node 604 compares the CSI differences on the same beam and reports to the network node 602 if the CSI difference of the beam exceeds a predetermined threshold.

[0128] The configuration provided in phase 1 may also include the reporting frequency. For example, the sensing node 604 may be configured to report whenever the CSI difference between any two consecutive instants exceeds a threshold. When an event is detected, subsequent reports may be conditional on the time of the initial detection. For example, the sensing node 604 may keep reporting as long as the difference is above the threshold and a timer started at the initial detection has not expired. As an example, the sensing node 604 may calculate CSI at times t0, t1, t2, t3. The difference between the CSI at times t1 and t0 may be greater than the threshold X (|CSI(t1) - CSI(t0)| > X), the difference between the CSI at times t2 and t0 may be greater than the threshold X (|CSI(t2) - CSI(t0)| > X), and the difference between the CSI at times t3 and t0 may be greater than the threshold X (|CSI(t3) - CSI(t0)| > X), and the configured timer window may be less than t3 - t1 but greater than t2 - t1. Then, the sensing node 604 will report only the detections at times t1, t2 and not t3. The sensing node 604 may continue to report until the change is below another threshold (e.g., X2), where X > X2, and X2 may be included in the configuration in phase 1. For example, the sensing node 604 starts reporting when a large change (CSI distance > X) is detected and continues to report until the CSI distance < X2.

[0129] The initial configuration of CSI-based reporting provided in phase 1 may be RRC-based and different parameter updates may be provided via RRC, medium access control - control element (MAC CE), or downlink control information (DCI).

[0130] For example, as Fig.10 illustrated in phase 2 as, the sensing node 604 detects the presence of a triggering event based on the reception of transmit (Tx) resources in phase 2a. For example, the sensing node 604 may receive the Tx resources and compare the measured CSI with the previously obtained CSI to determine whether the measured dissimilarity or distance CSI metric exceeds a predetermined threshold. In phase 2, it is assumed that the dissimilarity or distance CSI metric exceeds a predetermined threshold.

[0131] In Fig.10In stage 3 of the present invention, the sensing node 604 transmits a sensing report to the network node 602 (or to another network node). The sensing report may include information about the distance difference, or in some specific implementations, may only indicate the occurrence of an event. The sensing report may also include a timestamp, a beam index (if configured), information about potential detected target objects (such as range and angle), or any combination of the foregoing.

[0132] exist Fig.10 In stage 4 of the present invention, the sensing node 604 detects the existence of a valid reporting condition based on the reception of the transmit (Tx) resource in stage 4a. For example, in stage 4b, the sensing node 604 may detect whether there is a change in the CSI relative to the previously measured CSI (such as in stage 2) that exceeds a predetermined threshold provided in stage 1. In some specific implementations, the sensing node 604 may further determine whether a timer has expired, for example, as provided in stage 1.

[0133] exist Fig.10 In stage 5 of , the sensing node 604 transmits a sensing report to the network node 602 (or to another network node), for example, as discussed in stage 3. The sensing node 604 may continue to detect valid reporting conditions and transmit sensing reports until no changes are detected or the time has expired.

[0134] For example, in Fig.10 In stage 6 of the present invention, the sensing node 604 detects an invalid reporting condition based on the reception of the transmission resource in stage 6a. For example, in stage 6b, the sensing node 604 may detect that the CSI has not changed relative to the previously measured CSI (such as in stage 2), or any change is below the second predetermined threshold provided in stage 1. In some specific implementations, the sensing node 604 may additionally or alternatively determine that the timer has expired, for example, as provided in stage 1. When the reporting condition is invalid, the sensing report is not transmitted after stage 6.

[0135] Generally speaking, the sender node (in Fig.10 The network node 602 in FIG. 1 may be a base station (TRP) or a UE, and the receiving node (in Fig.10The sensing node 604 illustrated in the figure may be a base station or a UE. Therefore, the monitored link may be a TRP-UE (Uu) link, a UE-UE (SL) link, or a TRP-TRP link. For example, a TRP may be configured to monitor the CSI from another TRP (e.g., monitoring two TRPs at an intersection). The receiving TRP may not be within the line of sight of the transmitting TRP beam, but due to the presence of reflective objects in the environment, the receiving TRP may receive the signal reflected from the object and measure the corresponding change in its CSI estimate, and report the detection back to the sensing server. In another example, the network node 602 may configure the UE to monitor a SL UE link, for example, there may be two RSU units configured by the network. In another example, the configuration may be communicated from one UE to another SL UE without network assistance.

[0136] Based on receiving the event-triggered sensing report, the network node 602 may initiate a subsequent sensing session. Alternatively, the network node 602 may configure the sensing node 604 with a reference signal (RS) transmission based on the CSI difference. The sensing node 604 may be assigned a dedicated sensing resource to minimize the delay for generating the sensing result. The network node 602 that knows the transmission schedule monitors the RS signal at the scheduled resource. The network node 602 may configure the sensing node 604 to autonomously transmit the RS signal N time slots after the report is transmitted. The frequency and time resources may be configured by a network server such as the sensing server 172. This procedure enhances the sensing delay because the sensing RS is transmitted as long as the event is detected, and the network node 602 can process more refined measurements accordingly.

[0137] Fig.11 A schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a sensing node 1100 is shown. For example, the sensing node may be Figure 1 The UE 104 or base station 102 shown, or Figure 6 , Figure 7 and Fig.10 The sensing node 1100 may include a sensing node 604 and support sensing beam selection based on sensing beam measurement configuration and / or reporting based on effective CSI reporting configuration, as described herein. Figure 7 and Fig.10 The message flows 700 and 1000 shown, and Fig.131300, and accompanying techniques as discussed herein. The sensing node 1100 may include, for example, one or more processors 1102, a memory 1104, an external interface (such as at least one wireless transceiver (e.g., a wireless network interface)) exemplified as a WWAN transceiver 1110, a WLAN transceiver 1111, an ultra-wideband (UWB) transceiver 1112, and a Bluetooth (BT) transceiver 1113, an SPS receiver 1115, and one or more sensors 1114, which may be operatively coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 and the memory 1104 via one or more connections 1106 (e.g., a bus, a line, an optical fiber, a link, etc.). For example, the SPS receiver 1115 may receive and process SPS signals from a satellite vehicle. The one or more sensors 1114 may, for example, be an inertial measurement unit (IMU) that may include one or more accelerometers, one or more gyroscopes, a magnetometer, etc. The sensing node 1100 may also include additional items not shown, such as a user interface that may include, for example, a display, a keypad, or other input device (such as a virtual keypad on the display), through which a user can interact with the sensing node. In some example implementations, all or a portion of the sensing node 1100 may take the form of a chipset or the like. It should be understood that in some implementations, one or more components may not be included in the sensing node 1100. As an example, if the sensing node 1100 is a base station, some components such as the SPS receiver 1115, the sensor 1114, and one or more transceivers in a transceiver such as a BT transceiver may not be included.

[0138] The sensing node 1100 may include at least one wireless transceiver, such as a wireless transceiver 1110 for a WWAN communication system and a wireless transceiver 1111 for a WLAN communication system, a UWB transceiver 1112 for a UWB communication system, a BT transceiver 1113 for a Bluetooth communication system, or a combined transceiver for any of WWAN, WLAN, UWB, and BT. The WWAN transceiver 1110 may include a transmitter 1110t and a receiver 1110r coupled to one or more antennas 1109 for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals, and converting signals from wireless signals to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals. The WLAN transceiver 1111 may include a transmitter 1111t and a receiver 1111r coupled to one or more antennas 1109 or to separate antennas for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals, and converting signals from wireless signals to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals. The UWB transceiver 1112 may include a transmitter 1112t and a receiver 1112r coupled to one or more antennas 1109 or to separate antennas for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals, and converting signals from wireless signals to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals. The BT transceiver 1113 may include a transmitter 1113t and a receiver 1113r coupled to one or more antennas 1109 or to separate antennas for transmitting (e.g., on one or more uplink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) and / or receiving (e.g., on one or more downlink channels and / or one or more sidelink channels) wireless signals, and converting signals from wireless signals to wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals and from wired (e.g., electrical and / or optical) signals to wireless signals. The transmitters 1110t, 1111t, 1112t, and 1113t may include a plurality of transmitters that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components, and / or the receivers 1110r, 1111r, 1112r, and 1113r may include a plurality of receivers that may be discrete components or combined / integrated components.The WWAN transceiver 1110 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with a base station and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 11G New Radio (NR), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System), AMPS (Advanced Mobile Phone System), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), WCDMA (Wideband CDMA), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE Direct (LTE-D), 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), etc. The new radio may use millimeter wave frequencies and / or sub-6 GHz frequencies. The WLAN transceiver 1111 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with an access point and / or one or more other devices) according to various radio access technologies (RATs), such as 3GPP LTE-V2X (PC5), IEEE 1102.11 (including IEEE 1102.11p), WiFi, WiFi Direct (WiFi-D), Zigbee, etc. The UWB transceiver 1112 may be configured to communicate signals (e.g., with an access point and / or one or more other devices) in accordance with various radio access technologies (RATs), such as personal area networks (PANs) including IEEE 802.15.3, IEEE 802.15.4, etc. The BT transceiver 1113 may be configured to communicate signals in accordance with various radio access technologies (RATs), such as personal area networks (PANs) including IEEE 802.15.3, IEEE 802.15.4, etc. The transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113 may be communicatively coupled to a transceiver interface, which may be at least partially integrated with the transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, for example, via optical and / or electrical connections.

[0139] In some embodiments, the sensing node 1100 may include an antenna 1109, which may be located internally or externally. The sensing node antenna 1109 may be used to send and / or receive signals processed by the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, 1113. In some embodiments, the sensing node antenna 1109 may be coupled to the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113. In some embodiments, measurements of signals received (sent) by the sensing node 1100 may be performed at the connection point of the sensing node antenna 1109 and the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, 1113. For example, the measurement reference point for the received (sent) RF signal measurement may be the input (output) sensing node of the receiver 1110r (transmitter 1110t) and the output (input) sensing node of the sensing node antenna 1109. In a sensing node 1100 having multiple base station antennas 1109 or an antenna array, the antenna connector may be viewed as a virtual point representing the aggregate output (input) of the multiple sensing node antennas.

[0140] The one or more processors 1102 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 1102 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein by implementing one or more instructions or program codes 1108 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1102 may represent one or more circuits that may be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal computation procedure or process associated with the operation of the sensing node 1100.

[0141] The medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may store instructions or program codes 1108 containing executable codes or software instructions that, when executed by one or more processors 1102, cause the one or more processors 1102 to operate as a special-purpose computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As illustrated in the sensing node 1100, the medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the one or more processors 1102 to perform the methodologies described herein. Although each component or module is illustrated as software executable by one or more processors 1102 in the medium 1120, it should be understood that each component or module may be stored in the memory 1104 or may be dedicated hardware in or outside of the one or more processors 1102.

[0142] A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the medium 1120 and / or memory 1104 and be utilized by one or more processors 1102 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the medium 1120 and / or memory 1104 as shown in the sensing node 1100 is merely exemplary, and as such, the functionality of the various modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or configured in different ways depending on the implementation of the sensing node 1100.

[0143] The medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may include a sensing configuration module 1122, which when implemented by the one or more processors 1102 configures the one or more processors 1102 to receive, via an external interface including one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, a wireless communication interface as discussed herein (including Figures 6 to 10The sensing beam measurement configuration may be received, for example, from a network node such as a base station or a server, and may include, for example: resources for sensing beams, measurement metrics for measuring sensing beams, criteria for target path determination, minimum absolute or relative delay relative to the LOS path for target path determination, the number of target paths to be included in the sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each selected sensing beam in one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof. In addition, the one or more processors 1102 may be configured to receive a valid reporting condition via an external interface including one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, the valid reporting condition may include, for example, a channel state information change metric, a threshold, a reporting frequency, etc., as referenced. Fig.10 discussed.

[0144] The medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may include a sensing measurement module 1124, which, when implemented by the one or more processors 1102, configures the one or more processors 1102 to receive a plurality of sensing beams via an external interface including one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and measure the plurality of sensing beams received from a transmitting entity such as the network node 602, for example, as discussed herein, including reference Figures 6 to 10 For example, the one or more processors 1102 may be configured to: identify LOS paths and NLOS paths in each of the received sensing beams, e.g., based on delays; determine a target path, e.g., based on delays or Doppler frequency characteristics (which may include a micro-Doppler profile); and determine a measurement metric (e.g., signal strength, such as sensed RSPR or sensed SINR) and delays of the target path (e.g., excluding LOS paths and NLOS paths not associated with the target), as referenced Figure 6 9. The one or more processors 1102 may also be configured to determine an absolute delay or a relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of the sensing beam, as described with reference to Figure 6 As discussed in Figure 9.

[0145] The medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may include a selection module 1126, which when implemented by the one or more processors 1102 configures the one or more processors 1102 to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of sensing beams for sensing a target based at least on a sensing beam measurement configuration, e.g., as discussed herein, including reference Figures 6 to 10 .

[0146] The medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may include a reporting module 1128, which when implemented by the one or more processors 1102 configures the one or more processors 1102 to transmit a report for a sensing beam measurement report to a network node (e.g., a base station or a server), for example, via an external interface including one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, for example, as discussed herein, including reference Figures 6 to 10 . For example, the sensing beam measurement report may include at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of one or more selected sensing beams, a measurement metric (such as a sensed RSRP or a sensed SINR of the selected sensing beam), an absolute delay relative to the transmit time of the sensing beam, or a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof. If used to determine the relative delay, the report may also include identifications of different sensing beams. One or more processors 1102 may be configured to transmit a sensing report if a valid reporting condition is determined.

[0147] The medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104 may include a reporting condition module 1130, which when implemented by the one or more processors 1102 configures the one or more processors 1102 to determine whether a valid reporting condition exists, for example, based on the received valid reporting configuration and the determined change in the channel state information in the measurement of the plurality of sensing beams relative to the previous measurement of the plurality of sensing beams, for example, as described in reference Fig.10 The one or more processors 1102 may also be configured to determine whether a valid reporting condition exists based on time, for example, as described in reference Fig.10 discussed.

[0148] The methodologies described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, these methodologies may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. For hardware implementation, one or more processors 1102 may be implemented in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0149] For firmware and / or software implementations, these methodologies may be implemented using modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium that tangibly embodies instructions may be used to implement the methodologies described herein. For example, software code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 or memory 1104 connected to one or more processors 1102 and executed by the one or more processors. The memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. As used herein, the term "memory" refers to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory, and is not limited to any particular type of memory or any particular amount of memory, or the type of medium on which the memory is stored.

[0150] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 1108 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1120 and / or the memory 1104. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with computer program code 1108. For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code 1108 stored thereon may include program code 1108 for supporting sensing beam selection based on sensing beam measurement configuration and / or reporting based on effective CSI report configuration in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120 includes physical computer storage media. The storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1108 in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer; as used herein, magnetic disks and optical disks include compact disks (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray disks, where magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical disks reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0151] In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 1120, instructions and / or data may also be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in the communication device. For example, the communication device may include an external interface that includes one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, or 1113 with signals indicating instructions and data. These instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to implement the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communication device includes a transmission medium with signals indicating information for performing the disclosed functions.

[0152] The memory 1104 may represent any data storage mechanism. The memory 1104 may include, for example, a main memory and / or a secondary memory. The main memory may include, for example, a random access memory, a read-only memory, etc. Although shown in this example as being separate from the one or more processors 1102, it should be understood that all or part of the main memory may be provided within the one or more processors 1102 or otherwise co-located / coupled with the one or more processors. The secondary memory may include, for example, a memory of the same or similar type as the main memory and / or one or more data storage devices or systems (such as, for example, a disk drive, an optical drive, a tape drive, a solid-state memory drive, etc.).

[0153] In some implementations, the secondary memory is operable to receive or otherwise be configured to be coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1120. Thus, in some example implementations, the methods and / or apparatus presented herein may take the form of all or part of a computer-readable medium 1120 that may include computer-implementable program code 1108 stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors 1102 is operably implemented to be capable of performing all or part of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 1120 may be part of the memory 1104.

[0154] Fig.12 A schematic block diagram illustrating certain exemplary features of a network node 1200 is shown, which network node may be, for example, Figure 1 Base station 102 and / or sensing server 172 in, or Figure 6 , Figure 7 and Fig.10 The network node 602 in FIG. 1200 and supports sensing beam selection based on sensing beam measurement configuration and / or reporting based on effective CSI reporting configuration by a sensing node such as a UE or a base station, as described herein. For example, the network node 1200 may execute Figure 7 and Fig.10 The message flows 700 and 1000 shown, and Fig.14The process flow 1400 shown, and the accompanying techniques as discussed herein. The network node 1200 may include, for example, one or more processors 1202 and memory 1204, an external interface 1210, which may be operatively coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220 and the memory 1204 via one or more connections 1206 (e.g., a bus, a line, an optical fiber, a link, etc.). The external interface 1210 may be a wired and / or wireless interface capable of connecting to a network entity in the core network 170, through which the network node 1200 may communicate with a sensing node such as a UE or a base station, or if the network node is, for example, a base station, the external interface 1210 may be a wireless transceiver configured to communicate signals (e.g., with a sensing node) according to various radio access technologies (RATs). The network node 1200 may also include additional items not shown, such as a user interface by which a user may interact with the network node, which may include, for example, a display, a keypad, or other input device (such as a virtual keypad on a display). In certain exemplary implementations, all or a portion of network node 1200 may take the form of a chipset or the like.

[0155] The one or more processors 1202 may be implemented using a combination of hardware, firmware, and software. For example, the one or more processors 1202 may be configured to perform the functions discussed herein by implementing one or more instructions or program codes 1208 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1220 and / or the memory 1204. In some embodiments, the one or more processors 1202 may represent one or more circuits that may be configured to perform at least a portion of a data signal computing procedure or process associated with the operation of the network node 1200.

[0156] The medium 1220 and / or the memory 1204 may store instructions or program codes 1208 containing executable codes or software instructions that, when executed by one or more processors 1202, cause the one or more processors 1202 to operate as a special-purpose computer programmed to perform the techniques disclosed herein. As illustrated in the network node 1200, the medium 1220 and / or the memory 1204 may include one or more components or modules that may be implemented by the one or more processors 1202 to perform the methodologies described herein. Although each component or module is illustrated as software executable by one or more processors 1202 in the medium 1220, it should be understood that each component or module may be stored in the memory 1204 or may be dedicated hardware in or outside of the one or more processors 1202.

[0157] A number of software modules and data tables may reside in the media 1220 and / or memory 1204 and be utilized by the one or more processors 1202 to manage both the communications and functionality described herein. It should be understood that the organization of the contents of the media 1220 and / or memory 1204 as shown in the network node 1200 is merely exemplary, and as such, the functionality of the various modules and / or data structures may be combined, separated, and / or configured in different ways depending on the implementation of the network node 1200.

[0158] The medium 1220 and / or the memory 1204 may include a sensing configuration module 1122, which when implemented by the one or more processors 1202 configures the one or more processors 1202 to generate a sensing configuration module 1122 as discussed herein (including Figures 6 to 10 ) and transmit the sensing beam measurement configuration via the external interface 1210. The sensing beam measurement configuration enables the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of sensing beams received by the sensing node. The sensing beam measurement configuration may be received, for example, from a network node such as a base station or a server, and may include, for example: resources for sensing beams, measurement metrics for measuring sensing beams, criteria for target path determination, minimum absolute or relative delay relative to the LOS path for target path determination, the number of target paths to be included in the sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof. In addition, the one or more processors 1202 may be configured to generate and transmit, via the external interface 1210, a valid reporting condition for the sensing node, which may include, for example, a channel state information change metric, a threshold, a reporting frequency, etc., as referenced Fig.10 discussed.

[0159] The medium 1220 and / or the memory 1204 may include a reporting module 1224, which, when implemented by the one or more processors 1202, configures the one or more processors 1202 to receive a sensing beam measurement report from a sensing node via the external interface 1210, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each of the sensing beams selected for sensing by the sensing node, e.g., as discussed herein, including reference Figures 6 to 10 For example, in addition to the identification of each of the selected sensing beams, the sensing beam measurement report may include a measurement metric such as a sensed RSRP or a sensed SINR for the selected sensing beam, an absolute delay relative to the transmit time of the sensing beam, or a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof. If used to determine relative delays, the report may also include identifications of different sensing beams.

[0160] The methodologies described herein may be implemented by various means depending on the application. For example, these methodologies may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. For hardware implementation, one or more processors 1202 may be implemented in one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, electronic devices, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or combinations thereof.

[0161] For firmware and / or software implementations, these methodologies may be implemented using modules (e.g., procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the functions described herein. Any machine-readable medium that tangibly embodies instructions may be used to implement the methodologies described herein. For example, software code may be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220 or memory 1204 connected to one or more processors 1202 and executed by the one or more processors. The memory may be implemented within the one or more processors or external to the one or more processors. As used herein, the term "memory" refers to any type of long-term, short-term, volatile, non-volatile, or other memory, and is not limited to any particular type of memory or any particular amount of memory, or the type of medium on which the memory is stored.

[0162] If implemented in firmware and / or software, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or program code 1208 on a non-transitory computer-readable medium, such as the medium 1220 and / or the memory 1204. Examples include computer-readable media encoded with data structures and computer-readable media encoded with computer program code 1208. For example, a non-transitory computer-readable medium including program code 1208 stored thereon may include program code 1208 for supporting sensing beam selection based on a sensing beam measurement configuration and / or reporting based on an effective CSI reporting configuration by a sensing node in a manner consistent with the disclosed embodiments. The non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220 includes physical computer storage media. The storage media may be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way of example and not limitation, such non-transitory computer-readable media may include RAM, ROM, EEPROM, CD-ROM or other optical disk storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium that can be used to store desired program code 1208 in the form of instructions or data structures and can be accessed by a computer; as used herein, magnetic disks and optical disks include compact disks (CDs), laser disks, optical disks, digital versatile disks (DVDs), floppy disks, and Blu-ray disks, where magnetic disks typically reproduce data magnetically, while optical disks reproduce data optically using lasers. Combinations of the above should also be included within the scope of computer-readable media.

[0163] In addition to being stored on the computer-readable medium 1220, instructions and / or data may also be provided as signals on a transmission medium included in the communication device. For example, the communication device may include an external interface 1210 having signals indicating instructions and data. These instructions and data are configured to cause one or more processors to implement the functions outlined in the claims. That is, the communication device includes a transmission medium having signals indicating information for performing the disclosed functions.

[0164] Memory 1204 may represent any data storage mechanism. Memory 1204 may include, for example, a main memory and / or a secondary memory. The main memory may include, for example, a random access memory, a read-only memory, etc. Although shown as being separate from the one or more processors 1202 in this example, it should be understood that all or part of the main memory may be provided within the one or more processors 1202 or otherwise co-located / coupled with the one or more processors. The secondary memory may include, for example, a memory of the same or similar type as the main memory and / or one or more data storage devices or systems (such as, for example, a disk drive, an optical drive, a tape drive, a solid-state memory drive, etc.).

[0165] In some implementations, the secondary memory is operable to receive or otherwise be configured to be coupled to a non-transitory computer-readable medium 1220. Thus, in some example implementations, the methods and / or apparatus presented herein may take the form of all or part of a computer-readable medium 1220 that may include computer-implementable program code 1208 stored thereon, which when executed by one or more processors 1202 is operably implemented to be capable of performing all or part of the example operations as described herein. The computer-readable medium 1220 may be part of the memory 1204.

[0166] Fig.13 is a flow chart illustrating a method 1300 performed by a sensing node, such as a UE 104 or base station 102, sensing node 604, or sensing node 1100, for supporting radio frequency (RF) sensing in a wireless network as described herein.

[0167] At block 1302, a sensing node receives a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in a wireless network, such as Figure 7 The means for receiving a beam measurement configuration for sensing from a network node in a wireless network may include an external interface having one or more wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a memory 1120) in a dedicated hardware or implementation sensing node 1100. Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing configuration module 1122 shown.

[0168] At block 1304, the sensing node measures a plurality of sensing beams received from a transmitting entity, e.g. Figure 7 The means for measuring the plurality of sensing beams received from the transmitting entity may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or a memory 1104 implemented in the sensing node 1100) and / or a medium 1120 (such as a Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing measurement module 1124 shown.

[0169] At block 1306, the sensing node selects one or more sensing beams from a plurality of sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration, e.g., Figure 7The means for selecting one or more sensing beams for sensing a target from a plurality of sensing beams based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration may include an external interface having one or more wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or a memory device 1104 implemented in the sensing node 1100) or a memory device 1120 implemented in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the selection module 1126 shown.

[0170] At block 1308, the sensing node transmits a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each of the one or more selected sensing beams, such as Figure 7 The means for transmitting a sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each of the one or more selected sensing beams to a network node or a different network node may include an external interface having one or more wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or a device implementing the sensing node 1100) in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the reporting module 1128 shown.

[0171] In one implementation, for example, a sensing beam measurement configuration may include at least one of: resources for a sensing beam, a measurement metric for measuring a sensing beam, a criterion for target path determination, a minimum absolute or relative delay relative to a line-of-sight (LOS) path for target path determination, a number of target paths to be included in a sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each of one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof, for example, as described in reference to Figure 7 For example, the resources for the sensing beam may include a sensing signal resource set, wherein each sensing signal resource in the sensing signal resource set includes a sensing beam, for example, as described in reference Figure 7 The measurement metric used to measure the sensing beam may include an indication of at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), for example, as referenced Figure 7 The criteria for target path determination may include at least one of a maximum power non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path, a Doppler frequency characteristic, or a combination thereof, for example, as described in reference Figure 7The reporting format for each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams may include: a sensing signal resource identifier (ID), at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), an absolute delay relative to the transmit time of the sensing beam, a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof, for example, as described in reference to Figure 7 as discussed in Phase 1.

[0172] In one specific implementation, the sensing node may measure the plurality of sensing beams received from the transmitting entity by receiving each of the sensing beams, for example, Figure 7 The sensing node may identify one or more paths including line-of-sight (LOS) paths and non-LOS (NLOS) paths in each of the sensing beams based on the delay, for example, as Figure 7 The sensing node may determine one or more target paths from one or more paths identified in each of the sensing beams, for example, Figure 7 and determining the measured metrics and delays of one or more target paths, such as Figure 7 The means for measuring the plurality of sensing beams received from the transmitting entity by receiving each of the sensing beams may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or a memory device 1104 implemented in the sensing node 1100) or a memory device 1104 implemented in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11 The means for identifying one or more paths including a line-of-sight (LOS) path and a non-LOS (NLOS) path in each of the sensing beams based on the delay may include an external interface having one or more wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or implementation) in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11 The components for determining one or more target paths from one or more paths identified in each of the sensing beams may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or implementation) in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11The components for determining the measurement metrics and delays of one or more target paths may include an external interface having one or more wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or a memory device 1120 implemented in the sensing node 1100) or a dedicated hardware or a memory device 1104 implemented in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing measurement module 1124 shown.

[0173] For example, in one implementation, the sensing node may determine one or more target paths by matching the Doppler frequency signature in the NLOS path with the configured Doppler frequency signature of the target, e.g. Figure 7 The means for matching the Doppler frequency signature in the NLOS path with the configured Doppler frequency signature of the target may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a memory 1120) in the sensing node 1100 having dedicated hardware or implementing Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing measurement module 1124 shown.

[0174] In one implementation, the sensing node may determine one or more target paths by detecting delays in background paths in each of the sensing beams in the absence of the target, e.g. Figure 7 The sensing node may determine the one or more target paths based at least in part on one or more paths in each of the sensing beams having a delay that is not equal to the delay in the background path, for example, Figure 7 The means for detecting the delay in the background path in each of the sensing beams in the absence of the target may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or implementation in the sensing node 1100) in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11The means for determining one or more target paths based at least in part on one or more paths in each of the sensing beams having a delay that is not equal to the delay in the background path may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or implementation in the sensing node 1100) in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing measurement module 1124 shown.

[0175] In one specific implementation, a sensing node may determine one or more target paths by receiving an indication of a minimum delay of the target path, e.g. Figure 7 The sensing node may determine one or more target paths based at least in part on one or more paths having a delay greater than a minimum delay in each of the sensing beams, for example, Figure 7 The means for receiving the indication of the minimum delay of the target path may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a memory 1120) in the sensing node 1100 or implementing the sensing node 1100 with dedicated hardware or realizing the minimum delay of the target path. Fig.11 The means for determining one or more target paths based at least in part on one or more paths having a delay greater than a minimum delay in each of the sensing beams may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or implementation in the sensing node 1100) in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing measurement module 1124 shown.

[0176] In one implementation, the sensing node may determine a measurement metric for each target path associated with a sensing beam by determining an indication of the signal strength of only the target paths excluding LOS paths and non-LOS paths not associated with the target, e.g. Figure 7The means for determining an indication of the signal strength of only target paths excluding LOS paths and non-LOS paths not associated with the target may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a memory 1120) in the sensing node 1100 having dedicated hardware or implementing Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing measurement module 1124 shown.

[0177] In one implementation, the sensing node may determine the delay of each target path associated with a sensing beam by determining one of: an absolute delay of the target path relative to the transmit time of the sensing beam, a relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of the sensing beam, or a relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of a different sensing beam, e.g. Figure 7 Phase 3 and Figure 8 The means for determining one of an absolute delay of a target path relative to a transmission time of a sensing beam, a relative delay of a target path relative to a LOS path of a sensing beam, or a relative delay of a target path relative to a LOS path of a different sensing beam may include an external interface having one or more of wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a memory device 1120) in dedicated hardware or implemented in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing measurement module 1124 shown.

[0178] In one specific implementation, the sensing node may select one or more sensing beams for sensing a target from a plurality of sensing beams based at least on a sensing beam measurement configuration by: selecting a configured number of target paths based on a measurement metric of each of the one or more target paths, e.g. Figure 7 The sensing beam measurement report may include an identification of the sensing beam associated with each selected target path, and a measurement metric and delay associated with each selected target path, for example, Figure 7 In one specific implementation, the delay associated with at least one selected target path may be a relative delay of the selected target path relative to a LOS path of a different sensing beam, and the sensing beam measurement report further includes an identification of the different sensing beams, for example, Figure 7 Phases 3 and 4 and Figure 8 As described in .

[0179] In one implementation, a sensor node may receive a valid reporting configuration, e.g. Fig.10 The sensing node may determine whether a valid reporting condition exists based at least in part on a valid reporting configuration and a change in channel state information in a measurement of the plurality of sensing beams relative to a previous measurement of the plurality of sensing beams, for example, Fig.10 1, 2 and 4 of . For example, the valid reporting configuration may include a channel state information change metric, the state information change metric including at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a reference signal received power (RSRP) or a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), for example, Fig.10 1, 2 and 4 of . The sensing beam measurement report is transmitted when valid reporting conditions exist, such as, for example, Fig.10 The means for receiving a valid report configuration may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or a memory 1104 implemented in the sensing node 1100) and / or a medium 1120 (such as a memory 1120 implemented in the sensing node 1100). Fig.11 The one or more processors 1102 may be configured to execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing configuration module 1122 shown in the figure. The means for determining whether a valid reporting condition exists based at least in part on the valid reporting configuration and the change in the channel state information in the measurement of the plurality of sensing beams relative to the previous measurement of the plurality of sensing beams may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or implementation in the sensing node 1100) in the sensing node 1100. Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the reporting condition module 1130 shown.

[0180] In one implementation, the sensing node determines whether a valid reporting condition exists by determining a change in the channel state information in the measurement of the plurality of sensing beams relative to a previous measurement of the plurality of sensing beams, e.g. Fig.10 The sensing node may also determine whether the change in the channel state information is greater than a threshold, for example, Fig.10 The means for determining a change in the channel state information in the measurement of the plurality of sensing beams relative to the previous measurement of the plurality of sensing beams may include an external interface having one or more of the wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a memory 1120) in the sensing node 1100 having dedicated hardware or implementing Fig.11 The component for determining whether the change of the channel state information is greater than the threshold value may include an external interface having one or more wireless transceivers 1110, 1111, 1112, and 1113, and a memory 1104 and / or a medium 1120 (such as a dedicated hardware or a memory 1104 implemented in the sensing node 1100) and / or a software instruction. Fig.11 One or more processors 1102 that execute executable code or software instructions in the reporting condition module 1130 shown.

[0181] In one specific implementation, a sensing node in a wireless network may be one of a sensing base station (such as base station 102 or network node 602) and a user equipment (UE) (such as UE 104 or sensing node 604); a network node in a wireless network may be one of a sending base station (such as base station 102, network node 602) or a server (such as sensing server 172); and a different network node may be one of a sending base station (such as base station 102 or network node 602) and a server (such as sensing server 172).

[0182] Fig.14 is a flow chart illustrating a method 1400 performed by a network node, such as base station 102, sensing server 172, network node 602, or network node 1200, for supporting radio frequency (RF) sensing in a wireless network as described herein.

[0183] At block 1402, a network node generates a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensor node in a wireless network, such as Figure 7 The means for generating a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensing node in a wireless network may include a memory 1204 and / or a medium 1220 (such as a memory 1204 or a medium 1220) in a network node 1200 having dedicated hardware or implementing Fig.12 One or more processors 1202 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing configuration module 1222 shown.

[0184] At block 1404, the network node transmits a sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement configuration enabling the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams, e.g. Figure 7 The components for transmitting a sensing beam measurement configuration to a sensing node that enables the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams and may include an external interface 1210, and a memory 1204 and / or a medium 1220 (such as a memory 1220) in a dedicated hardware or implementation network node 1200. Fig.12 One or more processors 1202 that execute executable code or software instructions in the sensing configuration module 1222 shown.

[0185] At block 1406, the network node receives a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each of the one or more selected sensing beams, such as Figure 7 The means for receiving a sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each of the one or more selected sensing beams from a sensing node may include an external interface 1210, and a memory 1204 and / or a medium 1220 (such as a dedicated hardware or implementation in the network node 1200) in the network node 1200. Fig.12 One or more processors 1202 that execute executable code or software instructions in the reporting module 1224 shown.

[0186] In one implementation, a sensing beam measurement configuration may include at least one of: resources for a sensing beam, a measurement metric for measuring a sensing beam, a criterion for target path determination, a minimum absolute or relative delay relative to a line-of-sight (LOS) path for target path determination, a number of target paths to be included in a sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each of one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof, such as Figure 7 For example, in one specific implementation, the resources for the sensing beam may include a sensing signal resource set, wherein each sensing signal resource in the sensing signal resource set includes a sensing beam, such as Figure 7 In one implementation, the measurement metric used to measure the sensing beam may include an indication of at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), for example, Figure 7 In one embodiment, the criteria for target path determination include at least one of a maximum power non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path, a Doppler frequency characteristic, or a combination thereof, such as Figure 7 In one implementation, the reporting format for each of the one or more selected sensing beams includes: a sensing signal resource identifier (ID), at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), an absolute delay relative to the LOS path, a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof, such as Figure 7 discussed in Phase 1 of this paper.

[0187] In one implementation, the sensing beam measurement report may include an identification of the sensing beam associated with each selected target path, and a measurement metric and delay associated with each selected target path, such as Figure 7 as discussed in Phase 4 of

[0188] In one specific implementation, the network node in the wireless network can be one of a sending base station (such as base station 102, network node 602) or a server (such as sensing server 172); and the sensing node in the wireless network can be one of a sensing base station (such as base station 102 or network node 602) and a user equipment (UE) (such as UE 104 or sensing node 604).

[0189] References throughout this specification to "one example," "an example," "some examples," or "exemplary implementations" mean that the particular features, structures, or characteristics described in conjunction with the features and / or examples may be included in at least one feature and / or example of the claimed subject matter. Thus, phrases appearing throughout the specification in "one example," "an example," "some examples," or "in some implementations," or other similar phrases, do not necessarily all refer to the same features, examples, and / or limitations. Furthermore, these particular features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in one or more examples and / or features.

[0190] Some parts of the specific embodiments included herein are presented in the form of algorithms or symbolic representations of operations on binary digital signals stored in the memory of a specific device or a special computing device or platform. In the context of this specific specification, the term specific device, etc. includes a general-purpose computer that performs specific operations according to instructions from program software once programmed. Algorithmic descriptions or symbolic representations are examples of techniques used by ordinary technicians in signal processing or related fields to convey the essence of their work to other technicians in the field. The algorithm here is generally considered to be a self-consistent sequence of operations or similar signal processing that leads to a desired result. In this context, operations or processing involve physical manipulation of physical quantities. Typically, but not necessarily, such quantities can take the form of electrical or magnetic signals that can be stored, transferred, combined, compared or otherwise manipulated. Mainly for reasons of common use, it has been proven that it is sometimes convenient to refer to such signals as bits, data, values, elements, symbols, characters, items, numbers, numerical values, etc. However, it should be understood that all of these or similar terms should be associated with appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels. Unless specifically stated otherwise, as is apparent from the discussion herein, it should be appreciated that throughout this specification, discussions utilizing terms such as "processing," "computing," "calculating," "determining," etc. refer to actions or processes of a specific apparatus such as a special purpose computer, a special purpose computing apparatus, or a similar special purpose electronic computing device. Thus, in the context of this specification, a special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device is capable of manipulating or transforming signals that are typically represented as physical electronic or magnetic quantities within a memory, register, or other information storage device, transmission device, or display device of the special purpose computer or similar special purpose electronic computing device.

[0191] In the above detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth to provide a thorough understanding of the claimed subject matter. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the claimed subject matter may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, methods and devices known to those of ordinary skill in the art are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the claimed subject matter.

[0192] The terms "and," "or," and "and / or," as used herein, may include various meanings that are also intended to depend, at least in part, on the context in which such terms are used. Generally, "or," if used in connection with a list, such as A, B, or C, is intended to mean A, B, and C (where used in an inclusive sense) as well as A, B, or C (where used in an exclusive sense). Additionally, the term "one or more," as used herein, may be used to describe any feature, structure, or characteristic in the singular, or may be used to describe a plurality of features, structures, or characteristics, or some other combination thereof. It should be noted, however, that this is merely an illustrative example, and claimed subject matter is not limited to this example.

[0193] While what is presently considered to be example features has been illustrated and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various other modifications may be made, and equivalents may be substituted, without departing from the claimed subject matter. Additionally, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular scenario to the teachings of the claimed subject matter without departing from the central concepts described herein.

[0194] In view of this description, various embodiments may include different combinations of features. Specific implementation examples are described in the following numbered clauses:

[0195] Clause 1. A method performed by a sensing node in a wireless network for supporting radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network, the method comprising: receiving a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; measuring multiple sensing beams received from a sending entity; selecting one or more sensing beams from the multiple sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and transmitting a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identifier of each of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0196] Clause 2. A method according to clause 1, wherein the sensing beam measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: resources for sensing beams, measurement metrics for measuring the sensing beams, criteria for target path determination, a minimum absolute or relative delay relative to a line-of-sight (LOS) path used for the target path determination, a number of target paths to be included in the sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof.

[0197] Clause 3. The method of clause 2, wherein the resources for the sensing beam comprise a sensing signal resource set, wherein each sensing signal resource in the sensing signal resource set comprises a sensing beam.

[0198] Clause 4. A method according to any one of clauses 2 to 3, wherein the measurement metric used to measure the sensing beam includes an indication of at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0199] Clause 5. The method of any one of clauses 2 to 4, wherein the criteria used for target path determination comprises at least one of a maximum power non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path, a Doppler frequency characteristic, or a combination thereof.

[0200] Clause 6. A method according to any one of clauses 2 to 5, wherein the reporting format for each of the one or more selected sensing beams includes: a sensing signal resource identifier (ID), at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), an absolute delay relative to the transmission time of the sensing beam, a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof.

[0201] Clause 7. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 6, wherein measuring the multiple sensing beams received from the sending entity includes: receiving each of the sensing beams; identifying one or more paths including line-of-sight (LOS) paths and non-LOS (NLOS) paths in each of the sensing beams based on delay; determining one or more target paths from the one or more paths identified in each of the sensing beams; and determining measurement metrics and the delays for the one or more target paths.

[0202] Clause 8. The method of clause 7, wherein determining the one or more target paths comprises matching Doppler frequency signatures in the NLOS paths with configured Doppler frequency signatures of the targets.

[0203] Clause 9. A method according to any one of clauses 7 to 8, wherein determining the one or more target paths comprises: detecting a delay in a background path in each of the sensing beams in the absence of the target; and determining the one or more target paths based at least in part on the one or more paths in each of the sensing beams having a delay that is not equal to the delay in the background path.

[0204] Clause 10. A method according to any one of clauses 7 to 9, wherein determining the one or more target paths comprises: receiving an indication of a minimum delay for the target path; and determining the one or more target paths based at least in part on the one or more paths in each of the sensing beams having a delay greater than the minimum delay.

[0205] Clause 11. A method according to any one of clauses 7 to 10, wherein determining the measurement metric for each target path associated with the sensing beam comprises: determining an indication of the signal strength of only the target path, the target path excluding the LOS path and non-LOS paths not associated with the target.

[0206] Clause 12. A method according to any one of clauses 7 to 11, wherein determining the delay of each target path associated with a sensing beam comprises determining one of: an absolute delay of the target path relative to a transmission time of the sensing beam, a relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of the sensing beam, or a relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of a different sensing beam.

[0207] Clause 13. A method according to any one of clauses 7 to 12, wherein selecting the one or more sensing beams for sensing the target from the multiple sensing beams based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration comprises: selecting a configured number of target paths based on the measurement metric of each target path in the one or more target paths.

[0208] Clause 14. The method of clause 13, wherein the sensing beam measurement report comprises an identification of the sensing beam associated with each selected target path, and the measurement metric and the delay associated with each selected target path.

[0209] Clause 15. A method according to clause 14, wherein the delay associated with at least one selected target path is a relative delay of the selected target path relative to the LOS path of a different sensing beam, and wherein the sensing beam measurement report also includes an identification of the different sensing beams.

[0210] Clause 16. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 15, the method further comprising: receiving a valid reporting configuration; determining whether a valid reporting condition exists based at least in part on the valid reporting configuration and changes in channel state information in the measurement of the multiple sensing beams relative to previous measurements of the multiple sensing beams; wherein the sensing beam measurement report is transmitted in the presence of the valid reporting condition.

[0211] Clause 17. A method according to clause 16, wherein the valid reporting configuration includes a channel state information change metric, and the channel state information change metric includes at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a reference signal received power (RSRP), or a precoding matrix indicator (PMI).

[0212] Clause 18. A method according to any one of clauses 16 to 17, wherein determining whether the valid reporting condition exists includes: determining the change in the channel state information in the measurement of the multiple sensing beams relative to the previous measurement of the multiple sensing beams; and determining whether the change in the channel state information is greater than a threshold.

[0213] Clause 19. A method according to any one of clauses 1 to 18, wherein the sensing node in the wireless network includes a sensing base station and one of a user equipment (UE), the network node in the wireless network includes a sending base station and one of a server, and the different network node includes one of the sending base station and the server.

[0214] Clause 20. A sensing node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network, the sensing node comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with an entity in the wireless network; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory and configured to: receive a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network via the wireless transceiver; measure a plurality of sensing beams received from a transmitting entity; select one or more sensing beams from the plurality of sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and transmit a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node via the wireless transceiver, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identification of each of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0215] Clause 21. A sensing node according to clause 20, wherein the sensing beam measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: resources for sensing beams, measurement metrics for measuring the sensing beams, criteria for target path determination, minimum absolute or relative delay relative to a line-of-sight (LOS) path for the target path determination, the number of target paths to be included in the sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof.

[0216] Clause 22. The sensing node of clause 21, wherein the resources for the sensing beam comprise a sensing signal resource set, wherein each sensing signal resource in the sensing signal resource set comprises a sensing beam.

[0217] Clause 23. A sensing node as described in any of clauses 21 to 22, wherein the measurement metric used to measure the sensing beam includes an indication of at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0218] Clause 24. A sensing node as described in any of clauses 21 to 23, wherein the criteria for target path determination comprises at least one of a maximum power non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path, a Doppler frequency characteristic, or a combination thereof.

[0219] Clause 25. A sensing node according to any one of clauses 21 to 24, wherein the reporting format for each of the one or more selected sensing beams comprises: a sensing signal resource identifier (ID), at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), an absolute delay relative to a transmit time of the sensing beam, a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof.

[0220] Clause 26. A sensing node according to clause 20, wherein the at least one processor is configured to measure the multiple sensing beams received from the transmitting entity by being configured to perform the following operations: receiving each of the sensing beams via the wireless transceiver; identifying one or more paths including line-of-sight (LOS) paths and non-LOS (NLOS) paths in each of the sensing beams based on delay; determining one or more target paths from the one or more paths identified in each of the sensing beams; and determining measurement metrics and the delays for the one or more target paths.

[0221] Clause 27. The sensing node of clause 26, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the one or more target paths by being configured to match Doppler frequency signatures in the NLOS paths with configured Doppler frequency signatures of the targets.

[0222] Clause 28. A sensing node according to any one of clauses 26 to 27, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the one or more target paths by being configured to: detect a delay in a background path in each of the sensing beams in the absence of the target; and determine the one or more target paths based at least in part on the one or more paths in each of the sensing beams having a delay that is not equal to the delay in the background path.

[0223] Clause 29. A sensing node according to any one of clauses 26 to 28, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the one or more target paths by being configured to: receive an indication of a minimum delay for the target path via the wireless transceiver; and determine the one or more target paths based at least in part on the one or more paths in each of the sensing beams having a delay greater than the minimum delay.

[0224] Clause 30. A sensing node according to any one of clauses 26 to 29, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the measurement metric for each target path associated with the sensing beam by being configured to perform the following operations: determine an indication of the signal strength of only the target path, the target path excluding the LOS path and non-LOS paths that are not associated with the target.

[0225] Clause 31. A sensing node according to any one of clauses 26 to 30, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the delay of each target path associated with a sensing beam by being configured to perform the following operations: determine one of the following: the absolute delay of the target path relative to the transmission time of the sensing beam, the relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of the sensing beam, or the relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of a different sensing beam.

[0226] Clause 32. A sensing node according to any one of clauses 26 to 31, wherein the at least one processor is configured to select the one or more sensing beams for sensing the target from the multiple sensing beams based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration by being configured to perform the following operations: selecting a configured number of target paths based on the measurement metric of each target path in the one or more target paths.

[0227] Clause 33. The sensing node of clause 32, wherein the sensing beam measurement report comprises an identification of a sensing beam associated with each selected target path, and the measurement metric and the delay associated with each selected target path.

[0228] Clause 34. A sensing node according to clause 33, wherein the delay associated with at least one selected target path is a relative delay of the selected target path relative to the LOS path of a different sensing beam, and wherein the sensing beam measurement report also includes an identification of the different sensing beam.

[0229] Clause 35. A sensing node according to any one of clauses 20 to 34, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive a valid reporting configuration via the wireless transceiver; determine whether a valid reporting condition exists based at least in part on the valid reporting configuration and a change in channel state information in the measurement of the multiple sensing beams relative to previous measurements of the multiple sensing beams; wherein the sensing beam measurement report is transmitted in the presence of the valid reporting condition.

[0230] Clause 36. A sensing node according to clause 35, wherein the valid reporting configuration includes a channel state information change metric, the channel state information change metric comprising at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a reference signal received power (RSRP), or a precoding matrix indicator (PMI).

[0231] Clause 37. A sensing node according to any one of clauses 35 to 36, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine whether the valid reporting condition exists by being configured to perform the following operations: determining the change in the channel state information in the measurement of the multiple sensing beams relative to the previous measurement of the multiple sensing beams; and determining whether the change in the channel state information is greater than a threshold.

[0232] Clause 38. A sensing node according to any one of clauses 20 to 37, wherein the sensing node in the wireless network includes one of a sensing base station and a user equipment (UE), the network node in the wireless network includes one of a sending base station and a server, and the different network node includes one of the sending base station and the server.

[0233] Clause 39. A sensing node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network, the sensing node comprising: a component for receiving a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; a component for measuring multiple sensing beams received from a sending entity; a component for selecting one or more sensing beams from the multiple sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and a component for transmitting a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0234] Clause 40. A non-transitory storage medium comprising program code stored thereon, the program code being operable to configure at least one processor in a sensing node in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network, the program code comprising instructions for: receiving a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; measuring a plurality of sensing beams received from a sending entity; selecting one or more sensing beams from the plurality of sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and transmitting a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identification of each of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0235] Clause 41. A method performed by a network node in a wireless network for supporting a radio frequency (RF) sensing target in the wireless network, the method comprising: generating a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensing node in the wireless network; transmitting the sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement configuration enabling the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams; and receiving a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0236] Clause 42. A method according to clause 41, wherein the sensing beam measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: resources for sensing beams, measurement metrics for measuring the sensing beams, criteria for target path determination, a minimum absolute or relative delay relative to a line-of-sight (LOS) path used for the target path determination, a number of target paths to be included in the sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each of the one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof.

[0237] Clause 43. The method of clause 42, wherein the resources for the sensing beam comprise a sensing signal resource set, wherein each sensing signal resource in the sensing signal resource set comprises a sensing beam.

[0238] Clause 44. A method according to any one of clauses 42 to 43, wherein the measurement metric used to measure the sensing beam includes an indication of at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0239] Clause 45. The method of any one of clauses 42 to 44, wherein the criteria used for target path determination comprises at least one of a maximum power non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path, a Doppler frequency characteristic, or a combination thereof.

[0240] Clause 46. A method according to any one of clauses 42 to 45, wherein the reporting format for each of the one or more selected sensing beams includes: a sensing signal resource identifier (ID), at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), an absolute delay relative to the LOS path, a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof.

[0241] Clause 47. A method according to any one of clauses 41 to 46, wherein the sensing beam measurement report comprises an identification of the sensing beam associated with each selected target path, and a measurement metric and delay associated with each selected target path.

[0242] Clause 48. A method as described in any of clauses 41 to 47, wherein the network node in the wireless network comprises one of a sending base station and a server, and the sensing node in the wireless network comprises one of a sensing base station and a user equipment (UE).

[0243] Clause 49. A network node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing targets in the wireless network, the network node comprising: an external interface, the external interface configured to communicate with an entity in the wireless network; at least one memory; and at least one processor, the at least one processor coupled to the external interface and the at least one memory and configured to: generate a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensing node in the wireless network; transmit the sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node via the external interface, the sensing beam measurement configuration enabling the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams; and receive a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node via the external interface, the sensing beam measurement report including at least an identification of each selected sensing beam among the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0244] Clause 50. A network node according to clause 49, wherein the sensing beam measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: resources for sensing beams, measurement metrics for measuring the sensing beams, criteria for target path determination, a minimum absolute or relative delay relative to a line-of-sight (LOS) path for the target path determination, a number of target paths to be included in the sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof.

[0245] Clause 51. The network node of clause 50, wherein the resources for the sensing beam comprise a sensing signal resource set, wherein each sensing signal resource in the sensing signal resource set comprises a sensing beam.

[0246] Clause 52. A network node according to any of clauses 50 to 51, wherein the measurement metric used to measure the sensing beam comprises an indication of at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

[0247] Clause 53. A network node as recited in any of Clauses 50 to 52, wherein the criteria used for target path determination comprises at least one of a maximum power non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path, a Doppler frequency characteristic, or a combination thereof.

[0248] Clause 54. A network node according to any one of clauses 50 to 53, wherein the reporting format for each of the one or more selected sensing beams comprises: a sensing signal resource identifier (ID), at least one of a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), an absolute delay relative to the LOS path, a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof.

[0249] Clause 55. A network node as described in any of clauses 49 to 54, wherein the sensing beam measurement report comprises an identification of the sensing beam associated with each selected target path, and a measurement metric and delay associated with each selected target path.

[0250] Clause 56. A network node as described in any of clauses 49 to 55, wherein the network node in the wireless network comprises one of a sending base station and a server, and the sensing node in the wireless network comprises one of a sensing base station and a user equipment (UE).

[0251] Clause 57. A network node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing targets in the wireless network, the network node comprising: a component for generating a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensing node in the wireless network; a component for transmitting the sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement configuration enabling the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams; and a component for receiving a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0252] Clause 58. A non-transitory storage medium comprising program code stored thereon, the program code being operable to configure at least one processor in a network node in a wireless network to support radio frequency (RF) sensing targets in the wireless network, the program code comprising instructions for: generating a sensing beam measurement configuration for a sensing node in the wireless network; transmitting the sensing beam measurement configuration to the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement configuration enabling the sensing node to select one or more sensing beams from a plurality of received sensing beams; and receiving a sensing beam measurement report from the sensing node, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identification of each of the one or more selected sensing beams.

[0253] Therefore, it is intended that the claimed subject matter not be limited to the particular examples disclosed, but that the claimed subject matter may also include all aspects falling within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method performed by a sensing node in a wireless network for supporting radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network, the method comprising: receiving a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; measuring a plurality of sensing beams received from a transmitting entity; selecting one or more sensing beams from the plurality of sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; as well as A sensing beam measurement report is transmitted to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the sensing beam measurement configuration includes at least one of the following: resources for sensing beams, measurement metrics for measuring the sensing beams, criteria for target path determination, minimum absolute or relative delay relative to a line-of-sight (LOS) path used for the target path determination, the number of target paths to be included in the sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the resources used for the sensing beam comprise a sensing signal resource set, wherein each sensing signal resource in the sensing signal resource set comprises a sensing beam.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the measurement metric used to measure the sensing beam comprises an indication of at least one of sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the criteria for target path determination comprises at least one of a maximum power non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path, a Doppler frequency characteristic, or a combination thereof.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the reporting format for each of the one or more selected sensing beams comprises: At least one of a sensing signal resource identifier (ID), a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP), or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), an absolute delay relative to a transmission time of the sensing beam, a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring the plurality of sensing beams received from the transmitting entity comprises: receiving each of the sensing beams; identifying one or more paths including line-of-sight (LOS) paths and non-LOS (NLOS) paths in each of the sensing beams based on the delay; determining one or more target paths from one or more paths identified in each of the sensing beams; as well as A measurement metric and the delay of the one or more target paths are determined.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the one or more target paths comprises matching Doppler frequency signatures in NLOS paths with configured Doppler frequency signatures of the targets.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the one or more target paths comprises: receiving an indication of a minimum delay for a target path; The one or more target paths are determined based at least in part on the one or more paths in each of the sensing beams having a delay greater than the minimum delay.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the measurement metric for each target path associated with a sensing beam comprises: An indication of a signal strength of only the target paths is determined, the target paths excluding the LOS paths and non-LOS paths not associated with the target.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein determining the delay for each target path associated with a sensing beam comprises: Determine one of: an absolute delay of the target path relative to a transmit time of the sensing beam, a relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of the sensing beam, or a relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of a different sensing beam.

12. The method according to claim 1, further comprising: receiving a valid report configuration; determining whether a valid reporting condition exists based at least in part on the valid reporting configuration and a change in channel state information in the measurement of the plurality of sensing beams relative to a previous measurement of the plurality of sensing beams; The sensing beam measurement report is transmitted when the valid reporting condition exists.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the valid reporting configuration comprises a channel state information change metric, the channel state information change metric comprising at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a reference signal received power (RSRP), or a precoding matrix indicator (PMI).

14. The method of claim 12, wherein determining whether the valid reporting condition exists comprises: determining the change in the channel state information in the measurement of the plurality of sensing beams relative to the previous measurement of the plurality of sensing beams; as well as It is determined whether the change in the channel state information is greater than a threshold.

15. A sensing node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network, the sensing node comprising: a wireless transceiver configured to communicate with an entity in the wireless network; at least one memory; and at least one processor coupled to the wireless transceiver and the at least one memory and configured to: receiving, via the wireless transceiver, a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; measuring a plurality of sensing beams received from a transmitting entity; selecting one or more sensing beams from the plurality of sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; as well as A sensing beam measurement report is transmitted to the network node or a different network node via the wireless transceiver, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

16. The sensing node of claim 15, wherein the sensing beam measurement configuration comprises at least one of: resources for a sensing beam, a measurement metric for measuring the sensing beam, a criterion for target path determination, a minimum absolute or relative delay relative to a line-of-sight (LOS) path for the target path determination, a number of target paths to be included in the sensing beam measurement report, a reporting format for each of the one or more selected sensing beams, and any combination thereof. 17 . The sensing node of claim 16 , wherein the resources for the sensing beam comprise a sensing signal resource set, wherein each sensing signal resource in the sensing signal resource set comprises a sensing beam.

18. The sensing node of claim 16, wherein the measurement metric used to measure the sensing beam comprises an indication of at least one of sensing reference signal received power (RSRP) or sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR).

19. The sensing node of claim 16, wherein the criteria for target path determination comprises at least one of a maximum power non-line-of-sight (NLOS) path, a Doppler frequency characteristic, or a combination thereof.

20. The sensing node of claim 16, wherein the reporting format for each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams comprises: At least one of a sensing signal resource identifier (ID), a sensing reference signal received power (RSRP), or a sensing signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), an absolute delay relative to a transmission time of the sensing beam, a relative delay relative to the LOS path, or any combination thereof.

21. The sensing node of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is configured to measure the plurality of sensing beams received from the transmitting entity by being configured to: receiving, via the wireless transceiver, each of the sensing beams; identifying one or more paths including line-of-sight (LOS) paths and non-LOS (NLOS) paths in each of the sensing beams based on the delay; determining one or more target paths from one or more paths identified in each of the sensing beams; as well as A measurement metric and the delay of the one or more target paths are determined.

22. The sensing node of claim 21, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the one or more target paths by being configured to match Doppler frequency signatures in NLOS paths with configured Doppler frequency signatures of the targets.

23. The sensing node of claim 21 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the one or more target paths by being configured to: receiving, via the wireless transceiver, an indication of a minimum delay for a target path; The one or more target paths are determined based at least in part on the one or more paths in each of the sensing beams having a delay greater than the minimum delay.

24. The sensing node of claim 21 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the measurement metric for each target path associated with a sensing beam by being configured to: An indication of a signal strength of only the target paths is determined, the target paths excluding the LOS paths and non-LOS paths not associated with the target.

25. The sensing node of claim 21 , wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine the delay for each target path associated with a sensing beam by being configured to: Determine one of: an absolute delay of the target path relative to a transmit time of the sensing beam, a relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of the sensing beam, or a relative delay of the target path relative to the LOS path of a different sensing beam.

26. The sensing node of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receiving, via the wireless transceiver, a valid reporting configuration; determining whether a valid reporting condition exists based at least in part on the valid reporting configuration and a change in channel state information in the measurement of the plurality of sensing beams relative to a previous measurement of the plurality of sensing beams; The sensing beam measurement report is transmitted when the valid reporting condition exists.

27. The sensing node of claim 26, wherein the valid reporting configuration comprises a channel state information change metric comprising at least one of a channel quality indicator (CQI), a reference signal received power (RSRP), or a precoding matrix indicator (PMI).

28. The sensing node of claim 26, wherein the at least one processor is configured to determine whether the valid reporting condition exists by being configured to: determining the change in the channel state information in the measurement of the plurality of sensing beams relative to the previous measurement of the plurality of sensing beams; and It is determined whether the change in the channel state information is greater than a threshold.

29. A sensing node in a wireless network configured to support radio frequency (RF) sensing of a target in the wireless network, the sensing node comprising: means for receiving a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; means for measuring a plurality of sensing beams received from a transmitting entity; means for selecting one or more sensing beams from the plurality of sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and Means for transmitting a sensing beam measurement report to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

30. A non-transitory storage medium comprising program code stored thereon, the program code being operable to configure at least one processor in a sensing node in a wireless network to support a radio frequency (RF) sensing objective in the wireless network, the program code comprising instructions for: receiving a sensing beam measurement configuration from a network node in the wireless network; measuring a plurality of sensing beams received from a transmitting entity; selecting one or more sensing beams from the plurality of sensing beams for sensing the target based at least on the sensing beam measurement configuration; and A sensing beam measurement report is transmitted to the network node or a different network node, the sensing beam measurement report comprising at least an identification of each selected sensing beam of the one or more selected sensing beams.

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